THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 


PRESENTED  BY 

PROF.  CHARLES  A.  KOFOID  AND 
MRS.  PRUDENCE  W.  KOFOID 


\ 


SKETCHES 


OF 


THE  LIFE   AND  CHARACTER 


PATRICK    HENRY. 


BY    WILLIAM  WIRT 

OF    RICHMOND,    VIRGINIA. 


1  In  quo  hoc  maximum  est,  quod  neque  ante  ilium,  quern  tile  imitarateur  neque  post  ilium  qni 
eum  iaiitari  poosset.  inventus  esL"     Fetter c.  lib.  i.  cap.  v. 

'  His  dittinguvihrng  characteristic  is  this,  that  he.  was  preceded  fiy  none  whom  he  imitated, 
nor  did  any  come  after  who  could  imitate  him." 


REVISED   EDITION, 

WITH    HEADINGS   TO    EACH   CHAPTER,  AND    SUCH    AN   ARRANGEMENT 

OF    THE    NOTES   CONTAINED    IN    THE    FORMER   EDITIONS, 

AS   TO    RENDER   THE    WORK    SUITABLE    FOR 

A    CLASS    BOOK     IN   ACADEMIES 

AND     SCHOOLS. 


ITHACA,  N.  Y.: 
PUBLISHED  BY  MACK,  ANDRUS  &  CO.. 

No.    69    OWEGO    STREET. 
1845. 


DISTRICT  OP  PENNSYLVANIA,  TO  WIT  : 

Be  it  Remembered,  That,  on  the  twenty-first  day  of  March,  in  the  forty-second  year  ol 
the  Independence  of  the  United  States  of  America,  JAMES  WEBSTER,  of  the  said  District, 
hath  deposited  in  this  office  the  title  of  a  book,  the  right  v/hereof  he  claims  as  proprietor, 
in  the  words  following,  to  wit :  "  Sketches  of  the  Life  and  Character  of  Patrick  Henry. 
By  William  Wirt,  of  Richmond,  Virginia.  Second  edition,  corrected  by  the  Author.  In 
quo  hoc  maximum  est,  quod  neque  ante  ilium,  quern  ille  imitaretur,  neque  post  ilium,  qui 
eum  iinitari  posset,  inventus  est.  Paterc.  Lib.  i.  cap.  v."  In  conformity  to  the  act  of 
Congress  of  the  United  States,  entitled,  "An  act  for  the  encouragement  of  learning,  by 
securing  the  copies  of  Maps,  Charts,  and  Books,  to  the  authors  and  proprietors  of  such 
copies,  during  the  time  therein  mentioned  ;"  and  also  to  an  act,  entitled,  "An  act  supple 
mentary  to  an  act,  entitled,  '  An  act  for  the  encouragement  of  learning,  by  securing  the 
copies  of  Maps,  Charts,  and  Books,  to  the  authors  and  proprietors  of  such  copies,  during 
the  time  therein  mentioned,'  and  extending  the  benefits  thereof  to  the  arts  of  designing 
engraving,  and  etching,  historical  and  other  Prints."  D.  CALDWELL, 

Clerk  of  the  District  of  Pennsylvania. 

Re-entered,  according  to  the  act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1839,  by  THOMAS  M'ELRATH,  in 
the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  Southern  District  of  New  York. 


TO 

THE    YOUNG    MEN    OF  VIRGINIA, 

THIS   WORK 
IS    RESPECTFULLY   INSCRIBED, 

BY 
THE  AUTHOR. 


PREFACE. 


Ins  leader  has  a  right  to  know  what  degree  of  credit  is  due  to  the  following 
narrative  ;  and  it  is  the  object  of  this  preface  to  give  him  that  satisfaction. 

It  was  in  the  summer  of  eighteen  hundred  and  five,  that  the  design  of  writing 
this  biography  was  first  conceived.  It  was  produced  hy  an  incident  of  feeling, 
which,  however  it  affected  the  author  at  the  time,  might  now  be  thought  light 
and  trivial  by  the  reader ;  and  he  shall  not,  therefore,  be  detained  by  the  recital 
of  it.  The  author  knew  nothing  of  Mr.  Henry,  personally.  He  had  never 
seen  him,  and  was  of  course  compelled  to  rely  wholly  on  the  information  of 
others.  As  soon,  therefore,  as  the  design  was  formed  of  writing  his  life, 
aware  of  the  necessity  of  losing  no  time  in  collecting,  from  the  few  remaining 
coevals  of  Mr.  Henry,  that  personal  knowledge  of  the  subject  which  might  ere 
long  be  expected  to  die  with  them,  the  author  despatched  letters  to  every 
quarter  of  the  state  in  which  it  occurred  to  him  as  probable  that  interesting 
matter  might  be  found  ;  and  he  was  gratified  by  the  prompt  attention  which 
was  paid  to  his  inquiries. 

There  were,  at  that  time,  living  in  the  county  of  Hanover,  three  gentlemen 
of  the  first  respectability,  who  had  been  the  companions  of  Mr.  Henry's  child 
hood  and  youth ;  these  were,  Col.  Charles  Dabney,  Capt.  George  Dabney, 
and  Col.  William  0.  Winston  ;  the  two  first  of  whom  are  still  living.  Not 
having  the  pleasure  of  a  personal  acquaintance  with  these  gentlemen,  the 
author  interested  the  late  Mr.  Nathaniel  Pope  in  his  object,  and,  by  his  instru 
mentality,  procured  all  the  useful  information  which  was  in  their  possession. 
Mr.  Pope  is  well  known  to  have  been  a  gentleman  of  uncommonly  vigorous 
and  discriminating  mind  ;  a  sacred  observer  of  truth,  and  a  man  of  the  purest 
sense  of  honour.  The  author  cannot  recall  the  memory  of  this  most  amiable 
and  excellent  man,  to  who?n  (if  there  be  any  merit  in  this  work)  the  friends 
of  Mr.  Henry  and  the  state  of  Virginia  owe  so  many  obligations,  without 
paying  to  that  revered  memory  the  tribute  of  his  respect  and  affection.  Mr. 
Pope  was  one  of  those  ardent  young  Virjinians,  who  embarked  before  they 
had  attained  their  maturity,  in  the  cause  of  the  American  revolution  :  he  joined 
an  animated  and  active  corps  of  horse,  and  signalized  himself  by  an  impetuous 
gallantry,  which  drew  upon  him  the  eyes  and  the  applause  of  his  commander. 
In  peace>  he  was  as  mild  as  he  had  been  brave  in  war ;  his  bossm  was  replei* 
A  1 


M318053 


VI  PREFACE. 

with  the  kindest  affections  ;  he  was  in  truth,  one  of  the  best  of  companions, 
and  one  of  the  warmest  of  friends.  The  fact  that  he  was  the  acknowledged 
head  of  the  several  bars  at  which  he  practised  in  the  country,  may  assure  the 
reader  of  his  capacity  for  the  commission  which  he  so  cheerfully  undertook,  in 
regard  to  Mr.  Henry  ;  and  the  unblemished  integrity  of  his  life  may  assure 
him  also  of  the  fidelity  with  which  that  commission  was  executed.  So  many 
important  anecdotes  in  the  following  work  depend  on  the  credit  of  tin's  gentle 
man  as  a  witness,  that  the  slight  sketch  which  has  been  given  of  his  character, 
will  not,  it  is  hoped,  be  thought  foreign  to  the  purpose  of  this  preface.  Mr. 
Pope  did  not  confine  his  inquiries  to  the  county  of  Hanover :  he  was  indefati 
gable  in  collecting  information  from  every  quarter  ;  which  he  never  accepted, 
however,  but  from  the  purest  sources  ;  and  his  authority  for  every  incident 
was  given  with  the  most  scrupulous  accuracy.  The  author  had  hoped  to  have 
had  it  in  his  power  to  gratify  this  gentleman,  by  submitting  to  his  view  the 
joint  result  of  their  labours,  and  obtaining  the  benefit  of  his  last  corrections  ; 
but  he  was  disappointed  by  his  untimely  and  melancholy  death.  He  fell  a 
victim  to  that  savage  practice,  which,  under  the  false  name  of  honour,  con-> 
tinucd  to  prevail  too  long  ;  and  his  death  is  believed  to  have  been  highly 
instrumental  in  hastening  that  system  of  legislation  in  restraint  of  this  practice, 
which  now  exists  in  Virginia. 

Besides  the  contributions  furnished  by  Mr.  Pope,  the  writer  derived  material 
aid  from  various  other  quarters.  The  widow  of  Mr.  Henry  was  still  living, 
and  had  intermarried  with  Judge  Winston  ;  from  this  gentleman  (who  was 
•also  related  to  Mr.  H<s.'.ry  by  blood,  and  had  been  intimately  acquainted  with 
him  through  the  far  greater  part  of  his  life,)  the  author  received  a  succinct, 
but  extremely  accurate  and  comprehensive  memoir. 

Col.  Meredith,  of  Amherst,  was  a  few  years  older  than  Mr.  Henry,  had 
been  raised  in  the  same  neighbourhood,  and  had  finally  married  one  of  his 
sisters.  Having  known  Mr.  Henry  from  his  birth  to  his  death,  he  had  it  in 
'•his  power  to  supply  very  copious  details,  which  were  taken  down  from  his 
narration  by  the  present  Judge  Cabell,  and  forwarded  to  the  author. 

One  of  the  most  intimate  and  confidential  friends  of  Mr.  Henry  was  the 
late  Judge  Tyler.  The  judge  had  a  kind  of  Roman  frankness,  and  even 
bluntness,  in  his  manners,  together  with  a  decision  of  character  and  a  benevo 
lence  of  spirit,  which  had  attached  Mr.  Henry  to  him,  from  his  first  appear 
ance  on  the  public  stage.  They  were,  for  a  long  time,  members  of  the  House 
of  Delegates  together,  and  their  friendship  continued  until  it  was  severed  by 
death.  From  Judge  Tyler  the  author  received  a  very  minute  and  interesting 
communication  of  incidents,  the  whole  of  which  had  either  passed  in  his  own 
presence,  or  had  been  related  to  him  by  Mr.  Henry  himself. 

The  writer  is  indebted  to  Judge  Tucker  for  two  or  three  of  his  best  inci 
dents  ;  one  of  them  will  probably  be  pronounced  the  most  interesting  passage 
'of  the  work.  He  owes  to  the  same  gentleman,  too,  the  fullest  and  liveliest 
description  «f  the  person  of  Mr.  Henry,  which  has  been  furnished  from  any 


PREFACE.  Vft 

quarter ;  and  he  stands  further  indebted  to  him  for  a  rare  and  (to  the  purpose 
of  this  work)  a  very  important  book — the  Journals  of  the  House  of  Burgesses 
for  the  years  seventeen  hundred  and  sixty-three,  four,  five,  six,  and  seven. 

From  Judge  Iloane  the  author  has  received  one  of  the  fairest  and  most 
satisfactory  communications  that  has  been  made  to  him  ;  and  the  vigour  and 
elegance  with  which  that  gentleman  writes,  has  frequently  enabled  the  author 
to  relieve  the  dulness  of  his  own  narrative,  by  extracts  from  his  statements. 

Mr.  Jefferson,  too,  has  exercised  his  well-known  kindness  and  candour  on 
this  occasion ;  having  not  only  favoured  the  author  with  a  very  full  communi 
cation  in  the  first  instance  ;  but  assisted  him,  subsequently  and  repeatedly, 
with  his  able  counsel,  in  reconciling  apparent  contradictions,  and  clearing 
away  difficulties  of  fact. 

Besides  these  statements,  drawn  from  the  memory  of  his  correspondents, 
the  writer  was  favoured,  by  the  late  Governor  Page,  with  the  reading  of  a 
pretty  extended  sketch,  which  he  had  himself  prepared,  of  the  life  of  Mr. 
Henry;  and  he  has,  furthermore,  availed  himself  of  the  kind  permission  ot 
Mr.  Peyton  Randolph,  to  examine  an  extremely  valuable  manuscript  history  ot 
Virginia,  written  by  his  father,  the  late  Mr.  Edmund  Randolph  ;  which  em 
braces  the  whole  period  of  Mr.  Henry's  public  life. 

In  addition  to  these  stores  of  information  the  author  has  had  the  good 
fortune  to  procure  complete  files  of  the  public  newspapers,  reaching  from  the 
year  seventeen  hundred  and  sixty-five  down  to  the  close  of  the  American 
revolution  ;  by  these  he  has  been  enabled  to  correct,  in  some  important 
instances,  the  memory  of  his  correspondents,  in  relation  not  only  to  dates,  but 
to  facts  themselves. 

He  has  been  fortunate,  too,  in  having  procured  several  original  letters, 
which  shed  much  light  on  important  and  hitherto  disputed  facts,  in  the  life  of 
Mr.  Henry. 

The  records  of  the  General  Court,  and  the  archives  of  the  state,  having 
been  convenient  to  the  author,  and  always  open  to  him,  he  has  endeavoured 
assiduously  and  carefully  to  avail  himself  of  that  certain  and  permanent 
evidence  which  they  afford  ;  and  has  been  enabled,  by  this  means,  as  the 
reader  will  discover,  to  correct  some  strange  mistakes  in  historical  facts. 

The  author's  correspondents  will  find,  that  he  has  departed,  in  some  in 
stances,  from  their  respective  statements  ;  and  he  owes  them  an  explanation 
for  having  done  so  :  the  explanation  is  this — their  statements  were,  in  several 
instances,  diametrically  opposed  to  each  other  ;  and  were  sometimes  all  con 
tradicted  by  the  public  prints,  or  the  records  of  the  state.  It  ought  not  to  be 
matter  of  surprise,  that  these  contradictions  should  exist,  even  among  those 
most  respectable  gentlemen,  relying,  as  they  did,  upon  human  memory  mere 
ly  ;  and  speaking  of  events  so  very  remote,  without  a  previous  opportunity  of 
communicating  with  each  other.  It  will  be  seen  by  them,  that  the  author  has 
been  obliged  in  several  instances,  to  contradict  even  the  several  histories  ef 
the  times,  concerning  which  he  writes  ;  but  this  he  has  never  done,  without 


Vl  PREFACE. 

the  most  decisive  proofs  of  his  own  correctness,  which  he  has  always  cited ; 
nor  has  he  ever  departed  from  the  narratives  of  his  several  correspondents, 
except  under  the  direction  of  preponderating  evidence.  As  among  those 
contradictory  statements,  all  could  not  be  true,  he  has  sought  the  correction 
by  public  documnets,  when  such  correction  was  attainable  ;  and  when  it  was 
not,  he  has  selected,  among  his  narrators,  those  whose  opportunities  to  know 
the  fact  in  question  seemed  to  be  the  best.  This  he  has  done,  without  the 
slightest  intention  to  throw  a  shadow  of  suspicion  on  the  credit  of  any  gentle 
man  who  has  been  so  obliging  as  to  answer  his  inquiries  ;  but  merely  from  the 
necessity  which  he  was  under,  either  of  making  some  selection,  or  abandoning 
the  work  altogether  ;  and  because  he  knew  of  no  better  rule  of  selection,  than 
that  which  he  has  adopted. 

Although  it  has  been  so  long  since  the  collection  of  these  materials  was 
begun,  it  was  not  until  the  summer  of  eighteen  hundred  and  fourteen  that  the 
last  communication  was  received.  Even  then,  when  the  author  sat  down  to 
the  task  of  imbodying  his  materials,  there  were  so  many  intricacies  to  disen 
tangle,  and  so  many  inconsistencies,  from  time  to  time,  to  explain  and  settle, 
and  that,  too,  through  the  tedious  agency  of  cross-mails,  that  his  progress  was 
continually  impeded,  and  has  been,  to  him,  most  painfully  retarded. 

Other  causes,  too,  have  contributed  to  delay  the  publication.  The  author 
is  a  practising  lawyer  ;  and  the  courts  which  he  attends,  keep  him  perpetually 
and  exclusively  occupied  in  that  attendance,  through  ten  months  of  the  year ; 
nor  does  the  summer  recess  of  two  months  afford  a  remission  from  professional 
labour.  In  Virginia,  the  duties  of  attorney,  counsellor,  conveyancer,  and 
advocate,  are  all  performed  by  the  same  individual ;  hence,  the  summer  vaca* 
tion,  instead  of  being  a  time  of  leisure,  is  not  only  the  season  of  preparation 
for  the  approaching  courts,  but  is  subject,  moreover,  to  a  perpetual  recurrence 
of  what  aro  here  called  office  duties,  which  renders  a  steady  application  to  any 
other  subject  impossible. 

These  sketches  are  now  submitted  to  the  public,  with  unaffected  diffidence  ; 
not  of  the  facts  which  they  detail,  for  on  them  the  author  has  the  firmest 
rclia::ce ;  but  of  the  manner  in  which  he  has  been  able  to  accomplish  his 
undertaking.  For,  (to  say  nothing  of  his  inexperience  and  want  of  ability  fot 
such  a  work)  he  has  been  compelled  to  write  (when  he  was  suffered  to  write 
at  all)  amidst  that  incessant  professional  annoyance  which  has  been  mentioned, 
and  which  is  known  by  every  man  who  has  ever  made  the  trial,  to  forbid  the 
hope  of  success  in  any  composition  of  this  extent.  Conld  the  writer  have 
looked  forward,  with  any  reasonable  calculation,  to  a  period  of  greater  ease, 
his  respect  for  the  memory  of  Mr.  Henry,  as  well  as  his  regard  for  himself, 
would  have  induced  him  to  suspend  this  undertaking  until  that  period  should 
have  arrived.  But  having  no  ground  for  any  hope  of  this  kind,  he  has  thought 
it  better  to  hazard  even  these  crude  sketches,  than  to  suffer  the  materials, 
•which  he  had  accumulated  with  so  much  toil,  and  for  an  object  which  ho 
thought  so  laudable^  to  perish  on  his  hands. 


PREFACE.  IX 

These  remarks  are  not  maJe  with  the  view  of  deprecating  the  censures  of 
critics  by  profession  ;  but  merely  to  bespeak  the  candour  of  that  larger  portion 
of  readers,  who  are  willing  to  be  pleased  with  the  best  efforts  that  can  be 
reasonably  expected  from  the  circumstances  of  the  case.  The  author,  however, 
is  well  satisfied  that  the  most  indulgent  reader  (although  benevolently  disposed 
to  overlook  defects  of  execution)  will  be  certainly  disappointed  in  the  matter 
itself  of  this  work  ;  for,  notwithstanding  all  his  exertions,  he  is  entirely  con 
scious  that  the  materials,  which  he  has  been  able  to  collect  are  scanty  and 
meager,  and  utterly  disproportionate  to  the  great  fame  of  Mr.  Henry.  It  is 
probable,  that  much  of  what  was  once  known  of  him  had  perished,  before  the 
author  commenced  his  researches ;  and,  it  is  very  possible,  that  much  may 
still  be  known,  which  he  has  not  been  able  to  discover ;  because  it  lies  in 
unsuspected  sources,  or  with  persons  unwilling,  for  some  reason  or  other,  to 
communicate  their  information.  It  is  the  conviction,  that  he  has  not  been 
able  to  inform  himself  of  the  whole  events  of  Mr.  Henry's  life,  and  that  his 
collection  can  be  considered  only  as  so  many  detached  SKETCHES.  If,  in  this 
humble  and  unassuming  character,  it  shall  give  any  pleasure  to  the  numerous 
admirers  of  Mr.  Henry,  in  Virginia,  the  author  will  have  attained  all  that  he 
has  a  right  to  expect. 

RICHMOND,  Va.  Sept.  5th,  1817. 


NOTE  A. 

IT  appears  by  the  journals  of  the  house  of  burgesses,  of  the  14th  November, 
seventeen  hundred  and  sixty-four,  (page  38,)  that  a  committee  was  appointed 
to  draw  up  the  following  address,  memorial,  and  remonstrance ;  which  com 
mittee  was  composed  of  the  following  persons,  to  wit :  Mr.  Attorney,  (Peyton 
Randolph,)  Mr.  Richard  Henry  Lee,  Mr.  Landon  Carter,  Mr.  Wythe,  Mr. 
Edmund  Pendleton,  Mr.  Benjamin  Harrison  Mr.  Gary,  and  Mr.  Fleming,  ta 
whom,  afterward,  Mr.  Bland  was  added.  The  address  to  the  king  is  from  the 
pen  of  the  attorney.* 

*  On  the  authority  of  Mi-.  Jefferson. 
"  To  the  king's  most  excellent  Majesty. 
"  Most  Gracious  Sovereign, 

"  We,  your  majesty's  dutiful  and  loyal  subjects,  the  council  and  burgesser 
of  yonr  ancient  colony  and  dominion  of  Virginia,  now  met  in  general  assembly, 
beg  leave  to  assure  your  majesty  of  our  firm  and  inviolable  attachment  to  yous 
sacred  person  and  government ;  and  as  your  faithful  subjects  here  have  at  all 
times  been  zealous  to  demonstrate  this  truth,  by  a  ready  compliance  with  the 
royal  requisition  during  the  late  war,  by  which  a  heavy  and  oppressive  debt 
of  near  half  a  million  had  been  incurred,  so  at  this  time  they  implore  permis 
sion  to  approach  the  throne  with  humble  confidence,  and  to  entreat  that  your 
majesty  will  be  graciously  pleased  to  ptotect  our  people  of  this  colony  in  the 
enjoyment  of  their  ancient  and  inestimable  right  of  being  governed  by  such 
laws,  respecting  their  internal  polity  and  taxation,  as  are  derived  from  their 
own  consen(,  with  the  approbation  of  their  sovereign  or  his  substitute  :  a  right 
which,  as  men,  and  descendants  of  Britons,  they  have  ever  quietly  possessed, 
since,  first  by  royal  permission  and  encouragement,  they  left  the  mother  king 
dom  to  extend  its  commerce  and  dominion. 


ADVERTISEMENT. 


THE  appearance  of  a  duodecimo  edition  of  Marshall's  Life  of  Wash 
ington,  suggested  to  the  proprietors  of  The  Life  of  Patrick  Henry,  the 
desirableness  and  utility  of  the  present  edition.  As  that  masterly 
sketch  of  the  heroic  deeds  and  character  of  the  Father  of  his  country, 
furnishes  to  the  youth  of  our  land  the  most  impressive  iessoiis  of  pa 
triotism  and  manly  energy,  so  it  was  presumed  that  this  graphic  de 
lineation  of  the  genius  of  the  "forest-born  Demosthenes"  was  admira 
bly  calculated  to  elicit  in  the  youthful  mind,  feelings  of  emulation 
which  time  might  develop  into  action  and  honourable  usefulness.  It 
was  not,  however,  alone  for  youth,  or  for  the  use  of  the  School  Libra 
ries  of  our  several  states,  that  this  work  has  assumed  its  present  form — 
it  was  equally  designed  for  those  who  would  have  purchased  the 
former  edition,  had  it  been  less  expensive,  who  will  find  under  a  less 
commanding  appearance,  the  same  as  is  contained  in  the  octavo  edi 
tion — the  only  alteration  being  in  a  more  convenient  arrangement  of 
some  of  the  notes. 


W  JUT'S 

LIFE  OF  PATRICK  HENRY. 


CHAPTER   I. 

Birth  of  Patrick  Henry — Family  Reminiscences — Early  Propensities — Is, 
placed  under  the  Care  of  a  Merchant — Engages  in  Business  with  his  Broth 
er — Becomes  bankrupt — Is  married — Commences  farming — Abandons  Agri 
culture  and  recommences  mercantile  Business — Is  again  unfortunate — 
Becomes  acquainted  with  Mr.  Jefferson — Determines  to  study  Law — Is 
licensed — Contest  on  the  Subject  of  the  Tobacco  Law — Mr.  Henry  retained 
as  Counsel — Success  of  his  first  Effort. 

PATRICK  HENRY,  the  second  son  of  John  and  Sarah  Henry, 
and  one  of  nine  children,  was  born  on  the  twenty-ninth  of 
May,  seventeen  hundred  and  thirty-six,  at  the  family-seat,  called 
Studley,  in  the  county  of  Hanover  and  colony  of  Virginia.  In 
his  early  childhood,  his  parents  removed  to  another  seat,  in  the 
same  county,  then  called  Mount  Brilliant,  now  the  Retreat ;  at 
which  latter  place  Patrick  Henry  was  raised  and  educated.  His 
parents,  though  not  rich,  were  in  easy  circumstances  ;  and,  in 
point  of  personal  character,  were  among  the  most  respectable 
inhabitants  of  the  colony. 

His  father,  Col.  John  Henry,  was  a  native  of  Aberdeen  in 
Scotland.  He  was,  it  is  said,  a  first  cousin  to  David  Henry, 
who  was  the  brother-in-law  and  successor  of  Edward  Cave,  in 
the  publication  of  that  celebrated  work,  **  The  Gentleman's 
Magazine,"  and  himself  the  author  of  several  literary  tracts : 
John  Henry  is  also  said  to  have  been  a  nephew,  in  the  mater 
nal  line,  to  the  great  historian  Dr.  William  Robertson.  He 
came  over  to  Virginia,  in  quest  of  fortune,  some  time  prior  to 
the  year  seventeen  hundred  and  thirty,  and  the  tradition  is,  that 
he  enjoyed  the  friendship  and  patronage  of  Mr.  Dinwiddie,  af 
terward  the  governor  of  the  colony.  By  this  gentleman,  it  is 
reported,  that  he  was  introduced  to  the  elder  Col.  Syme  of 
Hanover,  ih  whose  family,  it  is  certain,  that  he  became  domes 
ticated  during  the  life  of  that  gentleman  ;  after  whose  death  he 
intermarried  with  his  widow,  and  resided  on  the  estate  which 
he  had  left. 
11 


12  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

It  is  considered  as  a  fair  proof  of  the  personal  merit  of  Mr. 
John  Henry,  that,  in  those  days,  when  offices  were  bestowed 
with  peculiar  caution,  he  was  the  colonel  of  his  regiment,  the 
principal  surveyor  of  the  county,  and,  for  many  years,  the 
presiding  magistrate  of  the  county  court.  His  surviving  ac 
quaintances  concur  in  stating,  that  he  was  a  man  of  liberal 
education  ;  that  he  possessed  a  plain,  yet  solid  understanding  ; 
and  lived  long  a  life  of  the  most  irreproachable  integrity  and 
exemplary  piety. 

His  brother  Patrick,  a  clergyman  of  the  church  of  England, 
followed  him  to  this  country  some  years  afterward ;  and  be 
came,  by  his  influence,  the  minister  of  St.  Paul's  parish  in 
Hanover,  the  functions  of  which  office  he  sustained  throughout 
life  with  great  respectability.  Both  the  brothers  were  zealous 
members  of  the  established  church,  and  warmly  attached  to  the 
reigning  family.  Col.  John  Henry  was  conspicuously  so. 
'*  There  are  those  yet  alive,"  says  a  correspondent,  (Mr.  Pope, 
in  eighteen  hundred  and  five,)  "  who  have  seen  him  at  the  head 
of  his  regiment,  celebrating  the  birth-clay,  of  George  III.  with 
as  much  enthusiasm  as  his  son  Patrick  afterward  displayed  in 
resisting  the  encroachments  of  that  monarch."* 

Mrs.  Henry,  the  widow  of  Col.  Syme,  as  we  have  seen,  and 
the  mother  of  Patrick  Henry,  was  a  native  of  Hanover  county, 
and  of  the  family  of  Winstons.  She  possessed,  in  an  eminent 
degree,  the  mild  and  benevolent  disposition,  the  undeviating 
probity,  the  correct  understanding,  and  easy  elocution,  by  which 
that  ancient  family  has  been  so  long  distinguished.  Her  brother 
William,  the  father  of  the  present  Judge  Winston,  is  said  to 
have  been  highly  endowed  with  that  peculiar  cast  of  eloquence, 
for  which  Mr.  Henry  became,  afterward,  so  justly  celebrated. 
Of  this  gentleman,  I  have  an  anecdote  from  a  correspondent, 
(Mr.  Pope,)  which  I  shall  give  in  his  own  words : — 

"  I  have  often  heard  my  father,  who  was  intimately  acquaint 
ed  with  this  William  Winston,  say,  that  he  was  the  greatest 
orator  whom  he  ever  heard,  Patrick  Henry  excepted ;  that 
during  the  last  French  and  Indian  war,  and  soon  after  Brad- 
dock's  defeat,  when  the  militia  were  marched  to  the  frontiers 
of  Virginia,  against  the  enemy,  this  William  Winston  was  the 
lieutenant  of  a  company  ;  that  the  men,  who  were  indifferently 
clothed,  without  tents,  and  exposed  to  the  rigour  and  inclem 
ency  of  the  weather,  discovered  great  aversion  to  the  service, 
and  were  anxious  and  even  clamorous  to  return  to  their  families  ; 

*  Mr.  Burk's  account  of  Mr.  Henry  is  extremely  careless  and  full  of  errors. 
He  begins  by  making  him  the  son  of  his  uncle  : — "  Patrick  Henry,  the  son  of 
a  Scotch  gentleman  of  ^c  same  name,"  &c. — 3d  vol.  of  the  History  of  Vir 
ginia,  page  300. 


PATRICK    HENRY.  13 

when  tliis  William  Winston,  mounting  ;i  stump,  (the  common 
rostrum,  you  know,  of  the  field-orator  of  Virginia,)  addressed 
them  with  such  keenness  of  invective,  and  declaimed  with  sucl- 
force  of  eloquence,  on  liberty  and  patriotism,  that  when  he 
concluded,  the  general  cry  was,  'Let  us  march  on;  lead  us 
against  the  enemy  !'  and  they  were  now  willing,  nay,  anxious 
to  encounter  all  those  difficulties  and  dangers  which,  but  a  few 
moments  before,  had  almost  produced  a  mutiny. 

Thus  much  I  have  been  able  to  collect  of  the  parentage  and 
family  of  Mr.  Henry;  and  this,  I  presume,  will  be  thought  quite 
sufficient,  in  relation  to  a  man,  who  owed  no  part  of  his  great 
ness  to  the  lustre  of  his  pedigree,  but  was,  in  truth,  the  soul 
founder  of  his  own  fortunes. 

Until  ten  years  of  age,  Patrick  Henry  was  sent  to  a  school  in 
the  neighbourhood,  where  he  learned  to  read  and  write,  and 
made  some  small  progress  in  arithmetic.  He  was  then  taken 
home,  and  under  the  direction  of  his  father,  who  had  opened  a 

frammar-school  in  his  own  house,  he  acquired  a  superficial 
nowledge  of  the  Latin  language,  and  learned  to  read  the  char 
acter,  but  never  to  translate  Greek.  At  the  same  time,  he  made 
a  considerable  proficiency  in  the  mathematics,  the  only  branch 
of  education  for  which,  it  seems,  he  discovered  in  his  youth, 
the  slightest  predilection. 

But  he  was  too  idle  to  gain  any  solid  advantage  from  the 
opportunities  which  were  thrown  in  his  way.  He  was  passion 
ately  addicted  to  the  sports  of  the  field,  and  could  not  support 
the  confinement  and  toil  which  education  required.  Hence, 
instead  of  system,  or  any  semblance  of  regularity  in  his  studies, 
his  efforts  were  always  desultory,  and  became  more  and  more 
rare  ;  until  at  length,  when  the  hour  of  his  school  exercises 
arrived,  Patrick  was  scarcely  ever  to  be  found.  He  was  in  the 
forest  with  his  gun,  or  over  the  brook  with  his  angle-rod  ;  and, 
in  these  frivolous  occupations,  when  not  controlled  by  the 
authority  of  his  father,  (which  was  rarely  exerted,)  he  would,  it 
is  said,  spend  whole  days  and  weeks,  with  an  appetite  rather 
whetted  than  cloyed  by  enjoyment.  His  school-fellows,  having 
observed  his  growing  passion  for  these  amusements,  and  having 
remarked  that  its  progress  was  not  checked  either  by  the  want 
of  companions  or  the  want  of  success,  have  frequently  watched 
his  movements  to  discover,  if  they  could,  the  secret  source  of 
that  delight  which  they  seemed  to  afford  him.  But  they  made 
no  discovery  which  led  them  to  any  other  conclusion  than  (to 
use  their  own  expression)  that  "  he  loved  idleness  for  its  own 
sake."  They  have  frequently  observed  him  lying  along,  under 
the  shade  of  some  tree  that  overhung  the  sequestered  stream, 
watching,  for  hours,  at  the  same  spot,  the  motionless  cork  of 

2 


14  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

his  fishing  line,  without  one  encouraging  symptom  of  success, 
and  without  any  apparent  source  of  enjoyment,  unless  he  could 
find  it  in  the  ease  of  his  posture,  or  in  the  illusions  of  hope,  or, 
which  is  most  probable,  in  the  stillness  of  the  scene  and  the 
silent  workings  of  his  own  imagination. 

This  love  of  solitude,  in  his  youth,  was  often  observed. 
Even  when  hunting  with  a  party,  his  choice  was  not  to  join  the 
noisy  band  that  drove  the  deer  ;  he  preferred  to  take  his  stand, 
alone,  where  he  might  wait  for  the  passing  game,  and  indulge 
himself,  meanwhile,  in  the  luxury  of  thinking.  Not  that  he 
was  averse  to  society ;  on  the  contrary,  he  had,  at  times,  a 
rery  high  zest  for  it.  But  even  in  society,  his  enjoyments 
while  young,  were  of  a  very  peculiar  cast ;  he  did  not  mix  in 
the  wild  mirth  of  his  equals  in  age ;  but  sat,  quiet  and  demure, 
taking  no  part  in  the  conversation,  giving  no  responsive  smile 
to  the  circulating  jest,  but  lost,  to  all  appearance,  in  silence  and 
abstraction.  This  abstraction,  however,  was  only  apparent; 
for  on  the  dispersion  of  a  company,  when  interrogated  by  his 
parents  as  to  what  had  been  passing,  he  was  able,  not  only  to 
detail  the  conversation,  but  to  sketch,  with  strict  fidelity,  the 
character  of  every  speaker.  None  of  these  early  delineations 
of  character  are  retained  by  his  contemporaries  ;  and,  indeed, 
they  are  said  to  have  been  more  remarkable  for  their  justness, 
than  for  any  peculiar  felicity  of  execution. 

I  cannot  learn  that  he  gave,  in  his  youth,  any  evidence  of  that 
precocity  which  sometimes  distinguishes  uncommon  genius. 
His  companions  recollect  no  instance  of  premature  wit,  no 
striking  sentiment,  no  flash  of  fancy,  no  remarkable  beauty  or 
strength  of  expression ;  and  no  indication,  however  slight, 
either  of  that  impassioned  love  of  liberty,  or  of  that  adventur 
ous  daring  and  intrepidity,  which  marked  so  strongly,  his  fu 
ture  character.  So  far  was  he,  indeed,  from  exhibiting  any  one 
prognostic  of  this  greatness,  that  every  omen  foretold  a  life,  at 
best,  of  mediocrity,  if  not  of  insignificance. 

His  person  is  represented  as  having  been  coarse,  his  man 
ners  uncommonly  awkward,  his  dress  slovenly,  his  conversa 
tion  very  plain,  his  aversion  to  study  invincible,  and  his  facul 
ties  almost  entirely  benumbed  by  indolence.  No  persuasions 
could  bring  him  either  to  read  or  to  work.  On  the  contrary, 
he  ran  wild  in  the  forest,  like  one  of  the  aborigines  of  the 
country,  and  divided  his  life  between  the  dissipation  and  uproar 
of  the  chase  and  the  languor  of  inaction. 

His  propensity  to  observe  and  comment  upon  the  human 
character  was,  so  far  as  I  can  learn,  the  only  circumstance 
which  distinguished  him,  advantageously,  from  his  youthful 
companions.  This  propensity  seems  to  have  been  born  with 


PATRICK    HENRY.  15 

him,  and  to  have  exerted  itself,  instinctively,  the  moment  that 
a  new  subject  was  presented  to  his  view.  Its  action  was  in 
cessant,  and  it  became,  at  length  almost  the  only  intellectual 
exercise  in  which  he  seemed  to  take  delight.  To  this  cause 
may  be  traced  that  consummate  knowledge  of  the  human  heart 
which  he  finally  attained,  and  which  enabled  him,  when  he 
came  upon  the  public  stage,  to  touch  the  springs  of  passion 
with  a  master-hand,  and  to  control  the  resolutions  and  decis 
ions  of  his  hearers,  with  a  power,  almost  more  than  mortal. 

From  what  has  been  already  stated,  it  will  be  seen  how  little 
education  had  to  do  with  the  formation  of  this  great  man's 
mind.  He  was,  indeed,  a  mere  child  of  nature,  and  nature 
seems  to  have  been  too  proud  and  too  jealous  of  her  work,  to 
permit  it  to  be  touched  by  the  hand  of  art.  She  gave  him 
Shakspeare's  genius,  and  bid  him,  like  Shakspeare,  to  depend 
on  that  alone. 

Let  not  the  youthful  reader,  however,  deduce,  from  the  ex 
ample  of  Mr.  Henry,  an  argument  in  favour  of  indolence  and 
the  contempt  of  study.  Let  him  remember  that  the  powers 
which  surmounted  the  disadvantage  of  those  early  habits, 
were  such  as  very  rarely  appear  upon  this  earth.  Let  him  re 
member,  too,  how  long  the  genius,  even  of  Mr.  Henry,  was 
kept  down  and  hidden  from  the  public  view,  by  the  sorcery  of 
those  pernicious  habits ;  through  what  years  of  poverty  and 
wretchedness  they  doomed  him  to  struggle ;  and,  let  him  re 
member,  that,  at  length,  when  in  the  zenith  of  his  glory,  Mr. 
Henry  himself  had  frequent  occasion  to  deplore  the  conse 
quences  of  his  early  neglect  of  literature,  and  to  bewail  "  the 
ghosts  of  his  departed  hours." 

His  father,  unable  to  sustain,  with  convenience,  the  expense 
of  so  large  a  family  as  was  now  multiplying  on  his  hands, 
found  it  necessary  to  qualify  his  sons,  at  a  very  early  age,  tq 
support  themselves.  With  this  view,  Patrick  was  placed  at  the 
a2e  of  fifteen,  behind  the  counter  of  a  merchant  in  the  country. 
How  he  conducted  himself  in  this  situation,  I  have  not  been 
able  to  learn.  There  could  not,  however,  I  presume,  have 
been  any  flagrant  impropriety  in  his  conduct,  since,  in  the  next 
year,  his  father  considered  him  qualified  to  carry  on  business 
on  his  own  account.  Under  this  impression,  he  purchased  a 
small  adventure  of  goods  for  his  two  sons,  William  and  Pat 
rick,  and,  according-  to  the  language  of  the  country,  "  set  them 
up  in  trade."  William's  habits  of  idleness  were,  if  possible, 
still  more  unfortunate  than  Patrick's.  The  chief  management 
of  their  concerns,  devolved,  therefore,  on  the  younger  brother, 
and  that  management  seems  to  have  been  most  wretched. 

Left  to  himself,  all  the  indolence  of  his  character  returned. 


16  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

Those  unfortunate  habits  which  he  had  formed,  and  whose 
spell  was  already  too  strong  to  be  broken,  comported  very 
poorly  with  that  close  attention,  that  accuracy  and  persevering 
vigour,  which  are  essential  to  the  merchant.  The  drudgery  of 
retailing  and  of  book-keeping  soon  became  intolerable  ;  yet  he 
was  obliged  to  preserve  appearances  by  remaining  continually 
at  his  stand.  Besides  these  unpropitious  habits,  there  was 
still  another  obstacle  to  his  success,  in  the  natural  kindness 
of  his  temper.  "  He  could  not  find  it  in  his  heart"  to  disap 
point  any  one  who  came  to  him  for  credit;  and  he  was  very 
easily  satisfied  by  apologies  for  non-payment.  He  condemned, 
in  himself,  this  facility  of  temper,  and  foresaw  the  embarrass 
ments  with  which  it  threatened  him  ;  but  he  was  unable  to  over 
come  it.  Even  with  the  best  prospects,  the  confinement  of 
such  a  business  would  have  been  scarcely  supportable ;  but 
with  those  which  now  threatened  him,  his  store  became  a  pris 
on.  To  make  the  matter  still  worse,  the  joys  of  the  chase, 
joys  now  to  him  forbidden,  echoed  around  him  every  morning, 
and  by  their  contrast,  and  the  longings  which  they  excited, 
contributed  to  deepen  the  disgust  which  he  had  taken  to  his 
employments. 

From  these  painful  reflections,  and  the  gloomy  forebodings 
which  darkened  the  future,  he  sought,  at  first,  a  refuge  in  mu 
sic,  for  which  it  seems  he  had  a  natural  taste,  and  he  learned  to 
play  well  on  the  violin  arid  on  the  flute.  From  music  he  passed 
to  books,  and,  having  procured  a  few  light  and  elegant  authors, 
acquired,  for  the  first  time,  a  relish  for  reading. 

He  found  another  relief,  too,  in  the  frequent  opportunities 
now  afforded  him  of  pursuing  his  favourite  study  of  the  human 
character.  The  character  of  every  customer  underwent  this 
scrutiny;  and  that,  not  with  reference  either  to  the  integrity 
or  solvency  of  the  individual,  in  Mrhich  one  would  suppose  that 
Mr.  Henry  would  feel  himself  most  interested;  but  in  relation 
to  the  structure  of  his  mind,  the  general  cast  of  his  opinions, 
the  motives  and  principles  which  influenced  his  actions,  and 
what  maybe  called  the  philosophy  of  character. 

In  pursuing  these  investigations,  he  is  said  to  have  resorted 
to  arts,  apparently  so  far  above  his  years,  and  which  looked  so 
much  like  an  afterthought,  resulting  from  his  future  eminence, 
that  I  should  hesitate  to  make  the  statement,  were  it  not  attested 
by  so  many  witnesses,  and  by  some  who  cannot  be  suspected 
of  the  capacity  for  having  fabricated  the  fact.  Their  account 
of  it,  then,  is  this  : — that  whenever  a  company  of  his  customers 
met  in  the  store,  (which  frequently  happened  on  the  last  day  of 
the  week,)  and  were  themselves  sufficiently  gay  and  animated 
co  talk  and  act  as  nature  prompted,  without  concealment,  Avith- 


PATRICK    HENRY.  17 

out  reserve,  he  would  take  no  part  in  their  discussions,  but 
listen  with  a  silence  as  deep  and  attentive  as  if  under  the  influ 
ence  of  some  potent  charm.  If,  oil  the  contrary,  they  were 
dull  and  silent,  he  would,  without  betraying  his  drift,  task  him 
self  to  set  them  in  motion,  and  excite  them  to  remark,  collision, 
and  exclamation.  He  was  peculiarly  delighted  with  comparing 
their  characters,  and  ascertaining  how  they  would  severally  act 
in  given  situations.  With  this  view  he  would  state  a  hypo 
thetic  case,  and  call  for  their  opinions  one  by  one,  as  to  the 
conduct  which  would  be  proper  in  it.  If  they  differed,  he  would 
demand  their  reasons,  and  enjoy  highly  the  debates  in  which 
he  would  thus  involve  them.  But  multiplying  and  varying 
those  imaginary  cases  at  pleasure,  he  ascertained  the  general 
course  of  human  opinion,  and  formed,  for  himself,  as  it  were,  a 
graduated  scale  of  the  motives  and  conduct  which  are  natural  to 
man.  Sometimes  he  would  entertain  them  with  stories,  gathered 
from  his  reading,  or,  as  was  more  frequently  the  case,  drawn 
from  his  own  fancy,  composed  of  heterogeneous  circumstances, 
calculated  to  excite,  by  turns,  pity,  terror,  resentment,  indigna 
tion,  contempt;  pausing  in  the  turns  of  his  narrative,  to  ob 
serve  the  effect ;  to  watch  the  different  modes  in  which  the  pas 
sions  expressed  themselves,  and  learn  the  language  of  emotion 
from  those  children  of  nature. 

In  these  exercises,  Mr.  Henry  could  have  had  nothing  in 
view  beyond  the  present  gratification  of  a  natural  propensity. 
The  advantages  of  them,  however,  were  far  more  permanent, 
and  gave  the  brightest  colours  to  his  future  life.  For  those 
continual  efforts  to  render  himself  intelligible  to  his  plain  and 
unlettered  hearers,  on  subjects  entirely  new  to  them,  taught 
him  that  clear  and  simple  style  which  forms  the  best  vehicle 
of  thought  to  a  popular  assembly  ;  while  his  attempts  to  in 
terest  and  affect  them,  in  order  that  he  might  hear  from  them 
the  echo  of  nature's  voice,  instructed  him  in  those  topics  of 
persuasion  by  which  men  were  the  most  certainly  to  be  moved, 
and  in  the  kind  of  imagery  and  structure  of  language,  which 
were  the  best  fitted  to  strike  and  agitate  their  hearts.  These 
constituted  his  excellences  as  an  orator ;  arid  never  was  there 
a  man,  in  any  age,  who  possessed,  in  a  more  eminent  degree, 
the  lucid  and  nervous  style  of  argument,  the  command  of  the 
most  beautiful  and  striking1  imagery,  or  that  language  of  pas 
sion  which  burns  from  soul  to  soul. 

In  the  meantime,  the  business  of  the  store  was  rushing 
headlong  to  its  catastrophe.  One  year  put  an  end  to  it.  WiL- 
liam  was  then  thrown  loose  upon  society,*  to  which  he  was 

*  I  have  seen  an  original  letter  from  Col.  John  Henry  to  his  son  William,  in 
which  he  remonstrates  with  him  en  his  wild  and  dissipated  course  cf  life. 

2* 


18  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

never  afterward  usefully  attached  ;  and  Patrick  was  engaged 
for  the  two  or  three  following  years,  in  winding  up  this  disas 
trous  experiment  as  well  as  he  could. 

His  misfortunes,  however,  seem  not  to  have  had  the  effect 
cither  of  teaching  him  prudence  or  of  chilling  his  affections. 
For,  at  the  early  age  of  eighteen,  we  find  him  married  to  a 
Miss  Shehon,  the  daughter  of  an  honest  farmer  in  the  neigh 
bourhood,  but  in  circumstances  too  poor  to  contribute  effect 
ually  to  her  support.  By  the  joint  assistance  of  their  parents, 
however,  the  young  couple  were  settled  on  a  small  farm,  and 
here,  with  the  assistance  of  one  or  two  slaves,  Mr.  Henry  had 
to  delve  the  earth,  with  his  own  hands,  for  subsistence.  Such 
are  the  vicissitudes  of  human  life !  It  is  curious  to  contem 
plate  this  giant  genius,  destined  in  a  few  years  to  guide  the 
councils  of  a  mighty  nation,  but  unconscious  of  the  intellectual 
treasures  which  he  possessed,  encumbered,  at  the  early  age  of 
eighteen,  with  the  cares  of  a  family ;  obscure,  unknown,  and 
almost  unpiticd  ;  digging,  with  wearied  limbs  and  with  an  ach 
ing  heart,  a  small  spot  of  barren  earth,  for  bread,  and  blessing 
the  hour  of  night  which  relieved  him  from  toil. 

Little  could  the  wealthy  and  great  of  the  land,  as  they  rolled 
along  the  highway  in  splendour,  and  beheld  the  young  rustic  at 
work  in  the  coarse  garb  of  a  labourer,  covered  with  dust  and 
melting  in  the  sun,  have  suspected  that  this  was  the  man  who  was 
destined  not  only  to  humble  their  pride,  but  to  make  the  prince 
himself  tremble  on  his  distant  throne,  and  to  shake  the  bright 
est  jewels  from  the  British  crown.  Little,  indeed,  could  he 
himself  have  suspected  it;  for  amid  the  distresses  which 
thickened  around  him  at  this  time,  and  threatened  him  not  only 
with  obscurity  but  with  famine,  no  hopes  came  to  cheer  the 
gloom,  nor  did  there  remain  to  him  any  earthly  consolation, 
save  that  which  he  found  in  the  bosom  of  his  own  family. 
Fortunately  for  him,  there  never  was  a  heart  which  felt  this 
consolation  with  greater  force.  No  man  ever  possessed  the 
domestic  virtues  in  a  higher  degree,  or  enjoyed,  more  exquis 
itely,  those  pure  delights  which  flow  from  the  endearing  rela 
tions  of  conjugal  life. 

Mr.  Henry's  want  of  agricultural  skill,  and  his  unconquer 
able  aversion  to  every  species  of  systematic  labour,  drove  him, 
necessarily,  after  a  trial  of  two  years,  to  abandon  this  pursuit 

There  is  reason  to  believe,  however,  that  at  a  later  period,  he  may  have  re 
formed,  since  a  gentleman,  to  whom  the  manuscript  of  this  work  was  submit 
ted,  notes  on  this  passage,  that  when  he  was  at  college  at  "VVilliainsbnrgh,  he 
recollects  to  have  seen  William  Henry  a  member  of  the  assembly,  from  the 
county  of  Fluvanna ;  that  he  was  called  colonel,  and  was,  he  afterward  under 
stood,  pretty  well  provided  as  to  fortune. 


PATRICK    HENRY.  19 

altogether.  His  next  step  seems  to  have  been  dictated  by  ab 
solute  despair ;  for,  selling  oil'  his  little  possessions,  at  a  sac 
rifice  for  cash,  he  entered,  a  second  time,  on  the  inauspicious 
business  of  merchandise.  Perhaps  he  flattered  himself  that 
he  would  be  able  to  profit  by  his  past  experience,  arid  conduct 
this  experiment  to  a  more  successful  issue.  But  if  he  did  so, 
he  deceived  himself.  He  soon  found  that  he  had  not  changed 
his  character,  by  changing  his  pursuits.  His  early  habits  still 
continued  to  haunt  him.  The  same  want  of  method,  the  same 
facility  of  temper,  soon  became  apparent  by  their  ruinous  ef 
fects.  He  resumed  his  violin,  his  flute,  his  books,  his  curious 
inspection  of  human  nature  ;  and  not  unfrequently  ventured  to 
shut  up  his  store,  and  indulge  himself  in  the  favourite  sports 
of  his  youth. 

His  reading,  however,  began  to  assume  a  more  serious  char 
acter.  He  studied  geography,  in  which  it  is  said  that  he  be 
came  an  adept.  He  read,  also,  the  charters  and  history  of  the 
colony.  He  became  fond  of  historical  works  generally,  par 
ticularly  those  of  Greece  and  Rome ;  and,  from  the  tenacity  of 
his  memory  and  the  strength  of  his  judgment,  soon  made  him 
self  a  perfect  master  of  their  contents.  Livy  was  his  favour 
ite  ;  and  having  procured  a  translation,  he  became  so  much  en 
amoured  of  the  work,  that  he  made  it  a  standing  rule  to  read  it 
through,  once  at  least,  in  every  year,  during  the  early  part  of 
his  life.*  The  grandeur  of  the  Roman  character,  so  beautiful 
ly  exhibited  by  Livy,  filled  him  with  surprise  and  admiration  ; 
and  he  was  particularly  enraptured  with  those  vivid  descrip 
tions  and  eloquent  harangues  with  which  the  work  abounds. 
Fortune  could  scarcely  have  thrown  in  his  way,  a  book  better 
fitted  to  foster  his  republican  spirit,  and  awaken  the  still  dor 
mant  powers  of  his  genius  ;  and  it  seems  riot  improbable,  that 
the  lofty  strain  in  which  he  himself  afterward  both  spoke  and 
acted,  was,  if  not  originally  inspired,  at  least  highly  raised,  by 
the  noble  models  set  before  him  by  this  favourite  author. 

This  second  mercantile  experiment  was  still  more  unfortu 
nate  than  the  first.  In  a  few  years  it  left  him  a  bankrupt,  and 
placed  him  in  a  situation  than  which  it  is  difficult  to  conceive 
one  more  wretched.  Every  atom  of  his  property  was  now 
gone,  his  friends  were  unable  to  assist  him  any  further ;  he  had 
tried  every  means  of  support,  of  which  he  could  suppose  him 
self  capable,  and  every  one  had  failed  ;  ruin  wras  behind  him ; 
poverty,  debt,  want,  and  famine,  before  ;  and,  as  if  his  cup  of 
misery  was  not  already  full  enough,  here  were  a  suffering  wife 
*nd  Children  to  make  it  overflow. 

-  Jud^-o  ^efson  had  this  statement  from  Mr.  Henry  himself. 


20  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

But  with  all  his  acuteness  of  feeling,  Mr.  Henry  possessed 
great  native  firmness  of  character  ;  and,  let  me  add,  great  re 
liance,  too,  on  that  unseen  arm  which  never  long  deserts  the 
faithful.  Thus  supported,  he  was  able  to  bear  up  under  the 
heaviest  pressure  of  misfortune,  and  even  to  b«  cheerful,  under 
circumstances  which  would  sink  most  other  men  into  despair. 

It  was  at  this  period  of  his  fortunes,  that  Mr.  Jefferson  be 
came  acquainted  with  him ;  and  the  reader,  I  am  persuaded, 
will  be  gratified  with  that  gentleman's  own  account  of  it. 
These  are  his  words  : — "  My  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Henry 
commenced  in  the  winter  of  seventeen  hundred  and  fifty-nine — 
sixty.  On  my  way  to  the  college  I  passed  the  Christmas- 
holydays  at  Col.  Dandridge's,  in  Hanover,  to  whom  Mr.  Henry 
was  a  near  neighbour.  During  the  festivity  of  the  season,  I 
met  him  in  society  every  day,  and  we  became  well  acquainted, 
although  I  was  much  his  junior,  being  then  in  my  seven 
teenth  year,  and  he  a  married  man. 

"  His  manners  had  something  of  coarseness  in  them;  his  pas 
sion  was  music,  dancing,  and  pleasantry.  He  excelled  in  the  last, 
and  it  attached  every  one  to  him.  You  ask  some  account  of 
his  mind  and  information  at  this  period ;  but  you  will  recollect 
that  we  were  almost  continually  engaged  in  the  usual  revelries 
of  the  season.  The  occasion,  perhaps,  as  much  as  his  idle  dis 
position,  prevented  his  engaging  in  any  conversation  which 
might  give  the  measure  either  of  his  mind  or  information. 
Opportunity  was  not,  indeed,  wholly  wanting  ;  because  Mr. 
John  Campbell  was  there,  who  had  married  Mrs.  Spotswood, 
the  sister  of  Col.  Dandridge.  He  was  a  man  of  science,  and 
often  introduced  conversation  on  scientific  subjects.  Mr.  Hen 
ry  had,  a  little  before,  broken  up  his  store,  or  rather  it  had 
broken  him  up ;  but  his  misfortunes  were  not  to  be  traced, 
either  in  his  countenance  or  conduct." 

This  cheerfulness  of  spirit,  under  a  reverse  of  fortune  so 
severe,  is  certainly  a  very  striking  proof  of  the  manliness  of 
his  character.  It  is  not,  indeed,  easy  to  conceive  that  a  mind 
like  Mr.  Henry's  could  finally  sink  under  any  pressure  of  ad 
versity.  Such  a  mind,  although  it  may  not  immediately  per 
ceive  whither  to  direct  its  efforts,  must  always  possess  a  con 
sciousness  of  power  sufficient  to  buoy  it  above  despondency. 
But,  be  this  as  it  may,  of  Mr.  Henry  it  was  certainly  true,  as 
Dr.  Johnson  has  observed  of  Swift,  that  "he  was  not  one  of 
those  who,  having  lost  one  part  of  life  in  idleness,  are  tempted 
to  throw  away  the  remainder  in  despair." 

It  seems  to  be  matter  of  surprise,  that  even,  yet,  amid  all 
those  various  struggles  for  subsistence,  the  powers  of  his  mind 
had  not  so  far  developed  themselves  as  to  suggest  to  any  friend 


PATRICK    HENRY.  21 

the  pursuit  for  which  he  was  formed.  He  seems  to  have  been 
a  plant  of  slow  growth ;  but,  like  other  plants  of  that  nature, 
formed  for  duration,  and  fitted  to  endure  the  bufferings  of  the 
rudest  storm. 

It  was  now,  when  all  other  experiments  had  failed,  that,  as 
a  last  effort,  he  determined,  of  his  own  accord,  to  make  a  tria 
of  the  law.  No  one  expected  him  to  succeed  in  any  eminent 
degree.  His  unfortunate  habits  were,  by  no  means,  suited  to 
so  laborious  a  profession  :  and  even  if  it  were  not  too  late  in 
life  for  him  to  hope  to  master  its  learning,  the  situation  of  his 
affairs  forbade  an  extensive  course  of  reading.  In  addition  to 
these  obstacles,  the  business  of  the  profession,  in  that  quarter, 
was  already  in  hands  from  which  it  was  not  easily  to  be  taken ; 
for  (to  mention  no  others)  Judge  Lyons,  the  late  president  of 
the  court  of  appeals,  was  then  at  the  bar  of  Hanover,  and  the 
adjacent  counties,  with  an  unrivalled  reputation  for  legal  learn 
ing  ;  and  Mr.  John  Lewis,  a  man,  also,  of  very  respectable 
legal  attainments,  occupied  the  whole  field  of  forensic  eloquence. 

Mr.  Henry  himself  seems  to  have  hoped  for  nothing  more 
from  the  profession  than  a  scanty  subsistence  for  himself  and 
his  family,  and  his  preparation  was  suited  to  these  humble  ex 
pectations  ;  for  to  the  study  of  a  profession,  which  is  said  to 
require  the  lucubrations  of  twenty  years,  Mr.  Henry  devoted 
not  more  than  six  weeks.*  On  this  preparation,  however,  he 
obtained  a  license  to  practise  the  law.  How  he  passed  with 
two  of  the  examiners,  I  have  no  intelligence  ;  but  he  himself 
used  to  relate  his  interview  with  the  third.  This  was  no  other 
than  Mr.  John  Randolph,  who  was  afterward  the  king's  attor 
ney-general  for  the  colony ;  a  gentleman  of  the  most  courtly 
elegance  of  person  and  manners,  a  polished  wit,  and  a  profound 
lawyer. 

At  first,  he  was  so  much  shocked  by  Mr.  Henry's  very  un 
gainly  figure  and  address,  that  he  refused  to  examine  him :  un 
derstanding,  however,  that  he  had  already  obtained  two  signa 
tures,  he  entered  with  manifest  reluctance,  on  the  business.  A 
very  short  time  was  sufficient  to  satisfy  him  of  the  erroneous 
conclusion  which  he  had  drawn  from  the  exterior  of  the  can 
didate.  With  evident  marks  of  increasing  surprise,  (produced 
no  doubt  by  the  peculiar  texture  and  strength  of  Mr.  Henry's 
style,  and  the  boldness  and  originality  of  his  combinations,)  he 
continued  the  examination  for  several  hours  :  interrogating  the 

*  So  say  Mr.  Jefferson  and  Judge  Winston.  Mr.  Pope  says  nine  month? 
Col.  Meredith  and  Capt.  Dabney,  six  or  eight  months.  Judge  Tyler,  one 
month  ;  and  he  adds ;  "  This  I  had  from  his  own  lips.  In  this  time,  he  read 
Coke  upon  Littleton,  and  the  Virginia  laws." 


32 

candidate,  not  on  the  principles  of  municipal  law,  in  which  he,  no 
doubt,  soon  discovered  his  deficiency,  but  on  the  laws  of  na 
ture  and  of  nations,  on  the  policy  of  the  feudal  system,  and 
on  general  history,  which  last  he  found  to  be  his  stronghold. 

During  the  very  short  portion  of  the  examination  which  was 
devoted  to  the  common  law,  Mr.  Randolph  dissented,  or  affect 
ed  to  dissent  from  one  of  Mr.  Henry's  answers,  and  called 
upon  him  to  assign  the  reasons  of  his  opinion.  This  produced 
an  argument ;  and  Mr.  Randolph  now  played  off  on  him  the  same 
arts  which  he  himself  had  so  often  practised  on  his  country 
customers  ;  drawing  him  out  by  questions,  endeavouring  to 
puzzle  him  by  subtleties,  assailing  him  with  declamation,  and 
watching  continually  the  defensive  operations  of  his  mind. 
After  a  considerable  discussion,  he  said  :  "  You  defend  your 
opinions  well,  sir;  but  now  to  the  law  and  to  the  testimony." 
Hereupon,  he  carried  him  to  his  office,  and  opening  the  au 
thorities,  said  to  him  :  "  Behold  the  face  of  natural  reason  ;  you 
have  never  seen  these  books,  nor  this  principle  of  the  law  ;  yet 
you  are  right,  and  I  am  wrong ;  and  from  the  lesson  which 
you  have  given  me  (you  must  excuse  me  for  saying  it)  I  will 
never  trust  to  appearances  again.  Mr.  Henry,  if  your  industry 
be  only  half  equal  to  your  genius,  I  augur  that  you  will  do 
well,  and  become  an  ornament  and  an  honour  to  your  profes 
sion."  It  was  always  Mr.  Henry's  belief  that  Mr.  Randolph 
had  affected  this  difference  of  opinion,  merely  to  afford  him  the 
pleasure  of  a  triumph,  and  to  make  some  atonement  for  the 
wound  which  his  first  repulse  had  inflicted.  Be  this  as  it  may, 
the  interview  was  followed  by  the  most  marked  and  permanent 
respect  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Randolph,  and  the  most  sincere 
good-will  and  gratitude  on  that  of  Mr.  Henry.* 

It  was  at  the  age  of  four-and-twenty  that  Mr.  Henry  obtain- 

*  This  account  of  Mr.  Henry's  examination  is  given  by  Judge  Tyler,  who 
states  it  as  having  come  from  Mr.  Henry  himself.  It  was  written  before  I  had 
received  the  following  statement  from  Mr.  Jefferson  ;  and  although  there  is 
some  difference  in  the  circumstances,  it  has  not  been  thought  important  enough 
to  make  an  alteration  of  the  text  necessary.  This  is  Mr.  Jefferson's  state 
ment  : — "  In  the  spring  of  seventeen  hundred  and  sixty,  he  came  to  Williams- 
burgh  to  obtain  a  license  as  a  lawyer,  and  he  called  on  me  at  college.  He  told 
me  he  had  been  reading  law  only  six  weeks.  Two  of  the  examiners,  however, 
Peyton  and  John  Randolph,  men  of  great  facility  of  temper,  signed  his  license 
with  as  much  reluctance  as  their  dispositions  would  permit  them  to  show.  Mr. 
Wythe  absolutely  refused.  Robert  C.  Nicholas  refused  also  at  first  ;  but,  on 
repeated  importunities  and  promises  of  future  reading,  he  signed.  These 
facts  I  had  afterward  from  the  gentlemen  themselves  ;  the  two  Randolphs  ac 
knowledging  he  was  very  ignorant  of  the  law,  but  that  they  perceived  him  to 
be  a  young  man  of  genius,  and  did  not  doubt  that  he  would  soon  qualify  him 
self." 


PATRICK    HENRY.  33 

eel  his  license.  Of  the  science  of  law,  he  knew  almost  noth 
ing  r  of  the  practical  part  he  was  so  wholly  ignorant,  that  he 
was  not  only  unable  to  draw  a  declaration  or  a  plea,  but  inca 
pable,  it  is  said,  of  the  most  common  or  simple  business  of  his 
profession,  even  of  the  mode  of  ordering  a  suit,  giving  a  no 
tice,  or  making  a  motion  in  court.  It  is  not  at  all  wonderful, 
therefore,  that  such  a  novice,  opposed  as  he  was  by  veterans, 
covered  with  the  whole  armour  of  the  law,  should  linger  in  the 
background  for  three  years.  * 

During  this  time,  the  wants  and  distresses  of  his  family  were 
extreme.  The  profits  of  his  practice  could  not  have  supplied 
them  even  with  the  necessaries  of  life  ;  and  he  seems  to  have 
spent  the  greatest  part  of  his  time,  both  of  his  study  of  the  law 
and  the  practice  of  the  first  two  or  three  years,  with  his  father- 
in-law,  Mr.  Shelton,  who  then  kept  the  tavern  at  Hanover 
courthouse.  Whenever  Mr.  Shelton  was  from  home,  Mr. 
Henry  supplied  his  place  in  the  tavern,  received  the  guests, 
and  attended  to  their  entertainment.  All  this  was  very  natural 
in  Mr.  Henry's  situation,  and  seems  to  have  been  purely  the 
voluntary  movement  of  his  naturally  kind  and  obliging  dispo 
sition. 

Hence,  however,  a  story  has  arisen,  that  in  the  early  part  of 
his  life,  he  was  a  barkeeper  by  profession.  The  fact  seems 
not  to  have  been  so  :  but  if  it  had  been,  it  would  certainly  have 
redounded  much  more  to  his  honour  than  to  his  discredit ;  for 
as  Mr.  Henry  owed  no  part  of  his  distinction  either  to  birth  or 
fortune,  but  wholly  to  himself,  the  deeper  the  obscurity  and 
poverty  from  which  he  emerged,  the  stronger  is  the  evidence 
which  it  bears  to  his  powers,  and  the  greater  glory  does  it  shed 
around  him. 

About  the  time  of  Mr.  Henry's  coming  to  the  bar,  a  contro 
versy   arose   in   Virginia,  which   gradually   produced   a   very 
'  strong  excitement,  and  called  to  it,  at  length,  the  attention  ol 
the  whole  state. 

This  was  the  famous  controversy  between  the  clergy  on  the 
one  hand,  and  the  legislature  of  the  people  of  the  colony  on 
the  other,  touching  the  stipend  claimed  by  the  former ;  and  as 
this  was  the  occasion  on  which  Mr.  Henry's  genius  first  broke 
forth,  those  who  take  an  interest  in  his  life,  will  not  be  dis 
pleased  by  a  particular  account  of  the  nature  and  grounds  of 
the  dispute.  It  will  be  borne  in  mind,  that  the  church  of  En 
gland  was  at  this  period  the  established  church  of  Virginia ; 

*  "  He  was  not  distinguished  at  tne  bar  for  near  four  years."— Judge  Win- 
tion  :  yet  Mr.  Burke  intimates  that  he  took  the  lead  in  his  profession  at  once. 
Vol  3d,  301. 


24  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

and  by  an  act  of  assembly,  passed  so  far  back  as  the  year  six 
teen  hundred  and  ninety-six,  each  minister  of  a  parish  had  been 
provided  with  an  annual  stipend  of  sixteen  thousand  pounds  of 
tobacco.  This  act  was  re-enacted,  with  amendments,  in  seven 
teen  hundred  and  forty-eight,  and  in  this  form  had  received  the 
royal  assent.  The  price  of  tobacco  had  long  remained  sta 
tionary  at  two  pence  in  the  pound,  or  sixteen  shillings  and 
eight  pence  per  hundred.  According  to  the  provisions  of  the 
law,  the  clergy  had  the  right  to  demand,  and  were  in  the  prac 
tice  of  receiving,  payment  of  their  stipend  in  the  specific  to 
bacco  ;  unless  they  chose,  for  convenience,  to  commute  it  for 
money  at  the  market-price. 

In  the  year  seventeen  hundred  and  fifty-five,  however,  the 
crop  of  tobacco  having  fallen  short,  the  legislature  passed  "  an 
act  to  enable  the  inhabitants  of  this  colony  to  discharge  their 
tobacco-debts  in  money  for  the  present  year :"  by  the  pro 
visions  of  which,  "  all  persons,  from  whom  any  tobacco  was 
due,  were  authorized  to  pay  the  same  either  in  tobacco  or  in 
money,  after  the  rate  of  sixteen  shillings  and  eight  pence  per 
hundred,  at  the  option  of  the  debtor."  This  act  was  to  con 
tinue  in  force  for  ten  months  and  no  longer,  and  did  not  contain 
the  usual  clause  of  suspension,  until  it  should  receive  the  royal 
assent. 

Whether  the  scarcity  of  tobacco  was  so  general  and  so  no 
torious,  as  to  render  this  act  a  measure  of  obvious  humanity 
and  necessity,  or  whether  the  clergy  were  satisfied  by  its  gen 
erality,  since  it  embraced  sheriffs,  clerks,  attorneys,  and  all 
other  tobacco-creditors,  as  well  as  themselves,  or  whether  they 
acquiesced  in  it  as  a  temporary  expedient,  which  they  supposed 
not  likely  to  be  repeated,  it  is  certain,  that  no  objection  was 
made  to  the  law  at  that  time.  They  could  not,  indeed,  have 
helped  observing  the  benefits  which  the  rich  planters  derived 
from  the  act ;  for  they  were  receiving  from  fifty  to  sixty  shil 
lings  per  hundred  for  their  tobacco,  while  they  paid  off  their 
debts,  due  in  that  article,  at  the  old  price  of  sixteen  shillings 
and  eight  pence.  Nothing,  however,  was  then  said  in  defence 
either  of  the  royal  prerogative  or  of  the  rights  of  the  clergy, 
but  the  law  was  permitted  to  go  peaceably  through  its  ten 
months'  operation. 

The  great  tobacco-planters  had  not  forgotten  the  fruits  of 
this  act,  when,  in  the  year  seventeen  hundred  and  fifty-eight, 
upon  a  surmise  that  another  short  crop  was  likely  to  occur, 
the  provisions  of  the  act  of  seventeen  hundred  and  fifty-five 
were  re-enacted,  and  the  new  law,  like  the  former,  contained 
no  suspending  clause.  The  crop,  as  had  been  anticipated,  did 
fall  short,  and  the  price  of  tobacco  rose  immediately  from  six- 


PATRICK    HENRY.  26 

teen  and  eight  pence  to  fifty  shillings  per  hundred.  The  clergy 
now  took  the  alarm,  and  the  act  was  assailed  by  an  indignant, 
sarcastic,  and  vigorous  pamphlet,  entitled,  "  The  Two-Penny 
Act,"  from  the  pen  of  the  Reverend  John  Camm,  the  rector  of 
York-Hampton  parish,  and  the  Episcopalian  commissary  for 
the  colony.* 

He  was  answered  by  two  pamphlets  written,  the  one  by  Colo 
nel  Richard  Bland,  and  the  other  by  Colonel  Landon  Carter,  in 
both  which  the  commissary  was  very  roughly  handled.  He  re 
plied,  in  a  still  severer  pamphlet,  under  the  ludicrous  title  of  "The 
Colonels  Dismounted."  The  colonels  rejoined  ;  and  this  war 
of  pamphlets,  in  which,  with  some  sound  argument,  there  was 
a  great  deal  of  what  Dryden  has  called  "  the  horse-play  of 
raillery,"  was  kept  up,  until  the  whole  colony,  which  had  at 
first  looked  on  for  amusement,  kindled  seriously  in  the  con 
test  from  motives  of  interest.  Such  was  the  excitement  pro 
duced  by  the  discussion,  and  at  length  so  strong  the  current 
against  the  clergy,  that  the  printers  found  it  expedient  to  shut 
their  presses  against  them  in  this  colony,  and  Mr.  Camm  had 
at  last  to  resort  to  Maryland  for  publication. 

These  pamphlets  are  still  extant,  and  it  seems  impossible  to 
deny,  at  this  day,  that  the  clergy  had  much  the  best  of  the 
argument.  The  king  in  his  council  took  up  the  subject,  de 
nounced  the  act  of  seventeen  hundred  and  fifty-eight  as  a  usur 
pation,  and  declared  it  utterly  null  and  void.  Thus  supported, 
the  clergy  resolved  to  bring  the  question  to  a  judicial  test;  and 
suits  were  accordingly  brought  by  them,  in  the  various  county 
courts  of  the  colony,  to  recover  their  stipends  in  the  specific 
tobacco.  They  selected  the  county  of  Hanover  as  the  place  of 
the  first  experiment;  and  this  was  made  in  a  suit  instituted  by 
the  Reverend  James  Maury,f  against  the  collector  of  that 
county  and  his  sureties. 

The  record  of  this  suit  is  now  before  me.  The  declaration 
is  founded  on  the  act  of  seventeen  hundred  and  forty-eight, 
which  gives  the  tobacco  ;  the  defendants  pleaded  specially  the 
act  of  seventeen  hundred  and  fifty  eight,  which  authorizes  the 


*  The  governor  of  Virginia  represented  the  king  ;  the  council,  the  house  of 
lords  ;  and  the  Episcopalian  commissary  (a  member  of  the  council)  represent 
ed  the  spiritual  part  of  that  house  ;  the  house  of  burgesses  was,  of  course, 
the  house  of  commons. 

t  Mr.  Burk  (vol.  3d,  page  303)  makes  the  Rev.  Patrick  Henry  the  plaintiff 
in  this  cause  ;  in  this  he  is  corrected  by  the  records  of  the  county.  Mr.  Burk 
also  sets  down  "  The  Two-Penny  Act,"  to  the  speculations  of  a  man  by  the 
name  of  Dickinson  ;  in  this  he  is  confuted  by  the  act  itself;  the  preamble  ex 
pressly  founding  it  on  the  shortness  of  the  crop. 

3 


36  WIRT'S  LIFE  or 

commutation  into  money,  at  sixteen  and  eight  pence  ;  to  this 
plea  the  plaintiff  demurred,  assigning  for  causes  of  demurrer, 
first,  that  the  act  of  seventeen  hundred  and  fifty-eight,  not  hav 
ing  received  the  royal  assent,  had  not  the  force  of  a  law ;  and, 
secondly,  that  the  king,  in  council,  had  declared  the  act  null 
and  void.  The  case  stood  for  argument  on  the  demurrer  to 
the  November  term,  seventeen  hundred  and  sixty-three,  and 
was  argued  by  Mr.  Lyons  for  the  plaintiff,  and  Mr.  John  Lewis 
for  the  defendants ;  when  the  court,  very  much  to  the  credit  ot' 
their  candour  and  firmness,  breasted  the  popular  current  by 
sustaining  the  demurrer. 

Thus  far,  the  clergy  sailed  before  the  wind,  and  concluded, 
with  good  reason,  that  their  triumph  was  complete  :  for  the  act 
of  seventeen  hundred  and  fifty-eight  having  been  declared  void 
by  the  judgment  on  the  demurrer,  that  of  seventeen  hundred  and 
forty-eight  was  left  in  full  force,  and  became,  in  law,  the  only 
standard  for  the  finding  of  the  jury.  Mr.  Lewis  was  so  thor 
oughly  convinced  of  this,  that  he  retired  from  the  cause  ;  inform 
ing  his  clients  that  it  had  been,  in  effect,  decided  against  them, 
and  that  there  remained  nothing  more  for  him  to  do.  In  this 
desperate  situation,  they  applied  to  Patrick  Henry,  and  he  under 
took  to  argue  it  for  them  before  a  jury,  at  the  ensuing  term. 

Accordingly,  on  the  first  day  of  the  following  December,  he 
attended  the  court,  and,  on  his  arrival,  found  in  the  courtyard 
such  a  concourse  as  would  have  appalled  any  other  man  in  his 
situation.  They  were  not  the  people  of  the  county  merely  who 
were  there,  but  visitors  from  all  the  counties,  to  a  considerable 
distance  around.  The  decision  upon  the  demurrer  had  pro 
duced  a  violent  ferment  among  the  people,  and  equal  exultation 
on  the  part  of  the  clergy ;  who  attended  the  court  in  a  large 
body,  either  to  look  down  opposition,  or  to  enjoy  the  final 
triumph  of  this  hard-fought  contest,  which  they  now  consider 
ed  as  perfectly  secure. 

Among  many  other  clergymen,  who  attended  on  this  occa 
sion,  came  the  Reverend  Patrick  Henry,  who  was  the  plaintiff  in 
another  cause  of  the  same  nature,  then  depending  in  court. 
When  Mr.  Henry  saw  his  uncle  approach,  he  walked  up  to  his 
carriage,  accompanied  by  Colonel  Meredith,  and  expressed  his 
regret  at  seeing  him  there.  "  Why  so  ?"  inquired  the  uncle. 
"  Because,  sir,"  said  Mr.  Henry,  "  you  know  that  I  have  never 
yet  spoken  in  public,  and  I  fear  that  I  shall  be  too  much  over 
awed  by  your  presence,  to  be  able  to  do  my  duty  to  my  clients  ; 
besides,  sir,  I  shall  be  obliged  to  say  some  hard  things  of  the 
clergy,  and  I  am  very  unwilling  to  give  pain  to  your  feelings." 
His  uncle  reproved  him  for  having  engaged  in  the  cause  ; 
which  Mr.  Henry  excused  by  saying,  that  the  clergy  had  not 


PATRICK    HENRY.  27 

thought  him  worthy  of  being  retained  on  their  side,  and  he 
knew  of  no  moral  principle  by  which  he  was  bound  to  refuse 
a  fee  from  their  adversaries  ;  besides,  he  confessed,  that  in  this 
controversy,  both  his  heart  and  judgment,  as  well  as  his  pro 
fessional  duty,  were  on  the  side  of  the  people  ;  he  then  request 
ed  that  his  uncle  would  do  him  the  favour  to  leave  the  ground. 

"  Why,  Patrick,"  said  the  old  gentleman,  with  a  good-natur 
ed  smile,  "  as  to  your  saying  hard  things  of  the  clergy,  I  ad 
vise  you  to  let  that  alone  :  take  my  word  for  it,  you  will  do 
yourself  more  harm  than  you  will  them ;  and  as  to  my  leaving 
the  ground,  I  fear,  my  boy,  that  my  presence  could  neither  do 
you  harm  nor  good  in  such  a  cause.  However,  since  you  seem 
to  think  otherwise,  and  desire  it  of  me  so  earnestly,  you  shall 
be  gratified."  Whereupon,  he  entered  his  carriage  again,  and 
returned  home. 

Soon  after  the  opening  of  the  court,  the  cause  was  called. 
It  stood  on  a  writ  of  inquiry  of  damages,  no  plea  having  been 
entered  by  the  defendants  since  the  judgment  on  the  demurrer. 
The  array  before  Mr.  Henry's  eyes  was  now  most  fearful.  On 
the  bench  sat  more  than  twenty  clergymen,  the  most  learned 
men  in  the  colony,  and  the  most  capable,  as  well  as  the  sever 
est  critics,  before  whom  it  was  possible  for  him  to  fmake  his 
debut.  The  court-house  was  crowded  with  an  overwhelming 
multitude,  and  surrounded  with  an  immense  and  anxious  throng, 
who,  not  finding  room  to  enter,  were  endeavouring  to  listen 
without,  in  the  deepest  attention. 

But  there  was  something  still  more  awfully  disconcerting 
than  all  this ;  for  in  the  chair  of  the  presiding  magistrate  sat 
no  other  person  than  his  own  father.  Mr.  Lyons  opened  the 
cause  very  briefly  :  in  the  way  of  argument  he  did  nothing 
more  than  explain  to  the  jury,  that  the  decision  upon  the  de 
murrer  had  put  the  act  of  seventeen  hundred  and  fifty-eight  en 
tirely  out  of  the  way,  and  left  the  law  of  seventeen  hundred 
and  forty-eight  as  the  only  standard  of  their  damages  ;  he  then 
concluded  with  a  highly-wrought  eulogium  on  the  benevo 
lence  of  the  clergy. 

And  now  came  on  the  first  trial  of  Patrick  Henry's  strength. 
No  one  had  ever  heard  him  speak,  and  curiosity  was  on  tiptoe. 
He  rose  very  awkwardly,  and  faltered  much  in  his  exordium. 
The  people  hung  their  heads  at  so  unpromising  a  commence 
ment;  the  clergy  were  observed  to  exchange  sly  looks  with 
each  other ;  and  his  father  is  described  as  having  almost  sunk 
with  confusion  from  his  seat. 

But  these  feelings  were  of  short  duration,  and  soon  gave 
place  to  others,  of  a  very  different  character.  For  now  were 
those  wonderful  faculties  which  he  possessed,  for  the  first  time, 


28  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

developed ;  and  now  was  first  witnessed  that  mysterious  and 
almost  supernatural  transformation  of  appearance,  which  the 
fire  of  his  own  eloquence  never  failed  to  work  in  him.  For  as 
his  mind  rolled  along,  and  began  to  glow  from  its  own  action, 
all  the  exuvi(E  of  the  clown  seemed  to  shed  themselves  sponta 
neously. 

His  attitude,  by  degrees,  became  erect  and  lofty.  The 
spirit  of  his  genius  awakened  all  his  features.  His  countenance 
shone  with  a  nobleness  and  grandeur  which  it  never  before 
exhibited.  There  was  a  lightning  in  his  eyes  which  seemed  to 
rive  the  spectator.  His  action  became  graceful,  bold,  and  com 
manding  ;  and  in  the  tones  of  his  voice,  but  more  especially  in 
his  emphasis,  there  was  a  peculiar  charm,  a  magic  of  which  any 
one  who  ever  heard  him  will  speak  as  soon  as  he  is  named, 
but  of  which  no  one  can  give  any  adequate  description.  They 
can  only  say  that  it  struck  upon  the  ear  and  upon  the  heart,  in 
a  manner  which  language  cannot  tell.  Add  to  all  these,  his 
wonder-working  fancy,  and  the  peculiar  phraseology  in  which 
he  clothed  its  images  ;  for  he  painted  to  the  heart  with  a  force 
that  almost  petrified  it.  In  the  language  of  those  who  heard 
him  on  this  occasion,  "  he  made  their  blood  run  cold,  and  their 
hair  to  rise  on  end." 

It  will  not  be  difficult  for  any  one  who  ever  heard  this  most 
extraordinary  man,  to  believe  the  whole  account  of  this  trans 
action,  which  is  given  by  his  surviving  hearers  ;  and  from  their 
account,  the  courthouse  of  Hanover  county  must  have  exhibit 
ed  on  this  occasion,  a  scene  as  picturesque,  as  has  been  ever 
witnessed  in  real  life. 

They  say  that  the  people,  whose  countenance  had  fallen  as 
he  arose,  had  heard  but  a  very  few  sentences  before  they  began 
to  look  up;  then  to  look  at  each  other  with  surprise,  as  if 
doubting  the  evidence  of  their  own  senses ;  then,  attracted  by 
some  strong  gesture,  struck  by  some  majestic  attitude,  fascin 
ated  by  the  spell  of  his  eye,  the  charm  of  his  emphasis,  and 
the  varied  and  commanding  expression  of  his  countenance, 
they  could  look  away  no  more. 

In  less  than  twenty  minutes,  they  might  be  seen  in  every 
part  of  the  house,  on  every  bench,  in  every  window,  stooping 
forward  from  their  stands,  in  deathlike  silence  ;  their  features 
fixed  in  amazement  and  awe  ;  all  their  senses  listening  and 
riveted  upon  the  speaker,  as  if  to  catch  the  last  strain  of  some 
heavenly  visitant.  The  mockery  of  the  clergy  was  soon  turn 
ed  into  alarm ;  their  triumph  into  confusion  and  despair ;  and 
at  one  burst  of  his  rapid  and  overwhelming  invective,  they 
fled  from  the  bench  in  precipitation  and  terror.  As  for  the 
father,  such  was  his  surprise,  such  his  amazement,  such  his 


PATRICK    HENRY.  /4 

rapture,  that,  forgetting  where  he  was,  and  the  character  which 
he  was  filling,  tears  of  ecstasy  streamed  down  his  cheeks,  with 
out  the  power  or  inclination  to  repress  them. 

The  jury  seem  to  have  been  so  completely  bewildered,  that 
they  lost  sight,  not  only  of  the  act  of  seventeen  hundred  and 
forty-eight,  but  that  of  seventeen  hundred  and  fifty-eight  also ; 
for  thoughtless  even  of  the  admitted  right  of  the  plaintiff,  they 
had  scarcely  left  the  bar,  when  they  returned  with  a  ver 
dict  of  one  penny  damages.  A  motion  was  made  for  a  new 
trial ;  but  the  court,  too,  had  now  lost  the  equipoise  of  their 
judgment,  and  overruled  the  motion  by  a  unanimous  vote. 
The  verdict  and  judgment  overruling  the  motion,  were  fol 
lowed  by  redoubled  acclamations,  from  within  and  without  the 
house. 

The  people,  who  had  with  difficulty  kept  their  hands  off  their 
champion,  from  the  moment  of  closing  his  harangue,  no  sooner 
saw  the  fate  of  the  cause  finally  sealed,  than  they  seized  him 
at  the  bar,  and  in  spite  of  his  own  exertions,  and  the  continued 
cry  of  *'  order"  from  the  sheriffs  and  the  court,  they  bore  him 
out  of  the  courthouse,  and  raising  him  on  their  shoulders,  car 
ried  him  about  the  yard,  in  a  kind  of  electioneering  triumph. 

0  !  what  a   scene  was  this  for  a  father's  heart !  so   sudden  ; 
so  unlocked  for;  so  delightfully  overwhelming  !     At  the  time, 
he  was  not  able  to  give  utterance  to  any  sentiment ;  but,  a  few 
days  after,  when  speaking  of  it  to  Mr.  Winston,  (the  present 
Judge  Winston,)  he  said,  with  the  most  engaging  modesty,  and 
with  a  tremour  of  voice,  which  showed  how  much  more  he  felt 
than  he  expressed,  "Patrick  spoke  in  this  cause  near  an  hour! 
and  in  a  manner  that  surprised  me  !  and  showed  himself  well- 
informed  on  a  subject,  of  which  I  did  not  think  he  had  any 
knowledge  !" 

1  have  tried  much   to  procure  a  sketch   of  this  celebrated 
speech.     But  those  of  Mr.  Henry's  hearers  who  survive,  seem 
to  have  been  bereft  of  their  senses.     They  can  only  tell  you, 
in  general,  that  they  were  taken  captive  ;  and  so  delighted  with 
their  captivity,  that  they  followed  implicitly,  whithersoever  he 
led  them  :  that,  at  his  bidding,  their   tears  flowed  from  pity, 
and  their  cheeks  flushed  with  indignation  :  that  when  it  was 
over,  they  felt  as  if  they  had  just  awaked  from  some  ecstatic 
dream,  of  which  they  were  unable  to  recall  or  connect  the  par 
ticulars.     It  was   such  a  speech  as  they  believe  had  never  be 
fore  fallen  from  the  lips  of  man ;  and  to  this  day,  the  old  peo 
ple  of  that  county  cannot  conceive  that  a  higher  compliment 
can  be  paid  to  a  speaker,   than  to   say  of  him,  in  their  own 
Homely  phrase: — "He  is  almost  equal  to  Patrick,  when  he 
\  'id  against  the  parsons." 

3* 


30  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

The  only  topic  of  this  speech  of  which  any  authentic  account 
remains,  is  the  order  of  the  king  in  council,  whereby  the  act 
of  seventeen  hundred  and  fifty-eight  had  been  declared  void. 
This  subject  had  in  truth  been  disposed  of  by  the  demurrer ; 
and,  in  strictness  of  proceeding,  neither  Mr.  Henry  nor  the 
jury  had  anything  to  do  with  it.  The  laxity  of  the  county- 
court  practice,  however,  indulged  him  in  the  widest  career  he 
chose  to  take,  and  he  laid  hold  of  this  point,  neither  with  a  fee 
ble  nor  hesitating  hand  ;  but  boldly  and  vigorously  pressed  it 
upon  the  jury,  and  that,  too,  with  very  powerful  effect 

He  insisted  on  the  connexion  and  reciprocal  duties  between 
the  king  and  his  subjects  ;  maintained  that  government  was  a 
conditional  compact,  composed  of  mutual  and  dependant  cove 
nants,  of  which  a  violation  by  one  party  discharged  the  other ; 
and  intrepidly  contended  that  the  disregard  which  had  been 
shown,  in  this  particular,  to  the  pressing  wants  of  the  colony, 
was  an  instance  of  royal  misrule,  which  had  thus  far  dissolved 
the  political  compact,  and  left  the  people  at  liberty  to  consult 
their  own  safety;  that  they  had  consulted  it  by  the  act  of 
seventeen  hundred  and  fifty-eight,  which,  therefore,  notwith 
standing  the  dissent  of  the  king  and  his  council,  ought  to  be 
considered  as  the  law  of  the  land,  and  the  only  legitimate  meas 
ure  of  the  claims  of  the  clergy. 

The  nature  of  this  topic,  and  the  earnest  and  undaunted  man 
ner  in  which  Mr.  Henry  is  said  to  have  pursued  and  maintain 
ed  it,  proves  that  even  at  this  period,  which  has  been  marked 
as  the  era  of  our  greatest  attachment  and  devotion  to  the  pa 
rent  country,  his  mind,  at  least,  was  disposed  to  pry  into  the 
course  of  the  regal  administration,  and  to  speak  forth  his  sen 
timents  without  any  fear  of  the  consequences.  The  reception 
which  the  people  gave  to  the  argument,  proves  that  they  also 
had  no  superstitious  repugnance  to  the  consideration  of  such 
topics,  nor  any  very  insuperable  horror  at  the  idea  of  a  separa 
tion.  Not  that  there  is  ground  to  suspect  that  any  one  had, 
at  this  time,  realized  such  an  event,  or  even  contemplated  it 
as  desirable. 

The  sufrsjestion,  therefore,  which  I  have  sometimes  heard, 
that  Mr.  Henry  was  already  meditating  the  independence  of  the 
colonies,  and  sowing  the  seeds  of  those  reflections  which  he 
wished  to  ripen  into  revolt,  is,  in  my  opinion,  rather  curious 
than  just.  I  believe  that  he  thought  of  nothing  beyond  success 
in  his  cause  ;  and  since  the  desperate  posture  in  which  he  found 
it  demanded  a  daring  and  eccentric  course,  he  adopted  that 
which  has  been  already  stated.  The  character  of  his  argument 
proves  that  he  was  naturally  a  bold  and  intrepid  inquirer,  who 
was  not  to  be  overawed  from  his  purpose  by  the  name  even  of 


PATRICK    HENRY.  31 

sovereignty  itself;  and  of  course  that  he  was  made  of  good 
revolutionary  materials. 

But  an  adequate  provocation  had  not  at  this  time  been  given : 
and  it  would  be  imputing  to  Mr.  Henry  a  criminal  ambition,  of 
which  there  is  no  proof,  to  suppose  that  he  was  meditating  the 
subversion  of  a  government,  against  which  the  voice  of  serious 
complaint  had  not  yet  been  heard.  Besides,  Mr.  Henry's 
standing  in  society  was  at  this  period  so  humble,  as  to  have 
rendered  the  meditation  of  such  a  purpose,  on  his  part,  pre 
sumptuous  in  the  extreme ;  and  equally  inconsistent  both  with 
his  unassuming  modesty,  and  that  natural  good  sense  and  accu 
rate  judgment  which  are,  on  all  hands,  assigned  to  him. 

Immediately  on  the  decision  of  this  cause,  he  was  retained 
in  all  the  cases,  within  the  range  of  his  practice,  which  depend 
ed  on  the  same  question.  But  no  other  case  was  ever  brought 
to  trial.  They  were,  all  throughout  the  colony,  dismissed  by 
the  plaintiffs  ;  nor  was  any  appeal  ever  prosecuted  in  the  case 
of  Mr.  Maury.  The  reason  assigned  for  this  by  Mr.  Carnm  is, 
that  the  legislature  had  voted  money  to  support  the  appeal  on 
the  part  of  the  defendants,  arvJ  that  the  clergy  were  not  rich 
enough  to  contend  against  the  whole  wealth  and  strength  of 
the  colony.* 

The  clergy  took  their  revenge  in  an  angry  pamphlet  from 
the  pen  of  Mr.  Camm,  in  which  a  very  contemptuous  account 
is  given  both  of  the  advocate  and  the  court.  Mr.  Henry  is 
stigmatized  in  it  as  an  obscure  attorney :  and  the  epithet  was 
true  enough  as  to  the  time  past,  but  it  was  now  true  no  longer. 
His  sun  had  risen  Avith  a  splendour  which  had  never  before 
been  witnessed  in  this  colony ;  and  never  afterward  did  it  dis 
grace  this  glorious  rising. 

*  Mr.  Camm  is  right  as  to  the  interference  of  the  legislature.     I  have  not 
been  able,  however,  to  find  any  resolution  of  the  legislature  to  this  effect,  ear 
Her  than  the   seventh  of  April,  seventeen  hundred  and   sixty-seven  :  where 
Mr.  Maury's  case  was  decided  in  Hanover,  on  the  first  of  December,  seventee 
hundred  and  sixty-three.     The  following  is  extracted  from  the  journal  of  the 
day  first  mentioned  : — 

"On  a  motion  made — Resolved,  that  the  committee  of  correspondence  be 
directed  to  write  to  the  agent,  to  defend  the  parish-collectors  from  all  appeals 
from  judgments  here  given,  in  suits  brought  by  the  clergy,  for  recovering  their 
salaries,  payable  on  or  before  the  last  day  of  May,  seventeen  hundred  and  fifty- 
nine  ;  and  that  this  house  will  engage  to  defray  the  expense  thereof." 


32  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 


CHAPTER  II. 

State  of  Society  iu  Virginia — Mr.  Henry's  Popularity — His  Appcaranccbcfoic 
the  House  of  Burgesses — The  Stamp-Act — Mr.  Henry  is  elected  a  Mem 
her  of  the  House — Anecdote  of  Washington — Sketches  of  Public  Charac 
ters  :  John  Robinson,  Peyton  Randolph,  Edmund  Pendleton,  George  Wythe 
and  Richard  Henry  Lee — He  opposes  the  Aristocracy  of  the  House  on  the 
Proposition  for  a  Loan-Office — Introduces  his  celebrated  Resolutions  against 
the  Stamp-Act — The  Effect — Mr.  Jefferson's  Account  of  this  Transaction — 
Anecdote  of  the  Debate. 

IT  is  almost  unnecessary  to  state,  that  the  display  which  Mr. 
Henry  had  made  in  *•  the  parsons1  cause,"  as  it  was  popularly 
called,  placed  him  at  once  at  the  head  of  his  profession,  in  that 
quarter  of  the  colony  in  which  he  practised.  He  became  the 
theme  of  every  tongue.  He  had  exhibited  a  degree  of  elo 
quence,  which  the  people  had  never  before  witnessed  ;  a  spe 
cies  of  eloquence,  too,  entirely  new  at  the  bar,  and  altogether 
his  own.  He  had  formed  it  on  no  living  model,  for  there  was 
none  such  in  the  country.  He  had  not  copied  it  from  books, 
for  they  had  described  nothing  of  the  kind ;  or  if  they  had,  he 
was  a  stranger  to  their  contents. 

Nor  had  he  formed  it  himself,  by  solitary  study  and  exercise  ; 
for  he  was  far  too  indolent  for  any  such  process.  It  was  so 
unexampled,  so  unexpected,  so  instantaneous,  and  §o  transcend 
ent  in  its  character,  that  it  had,  to  the  people,  Miry  much  the 
appearance  of  supernatural  inspiration.  He  \vas  styled  "  the 
orator  of  nature;"  and  was,  on  that  account,  much  more  re 
vered  by  the  people  than  if  he  had  been  formed  by  the  severest 
discipline  of  the  schools  ;  for  they  considered  him  as  bringing 
his  credentials  directly  from  heaven,  and  owing  no  part  of  his 
greatness  to  human  institutions. 

There  were  other  considerations,  also,  which  drew  him  still 
more  closely  to  the  bosom  of  the  people.  The  society  of  Vir 
ginia  was  at  that  time  pretty  strongly  discriminated.  A  gen 
tleman  who  lived  in  those  days,  and  who  had  the  best  opportu 
nities  of  judging  on  the  subject,  has  furnished  the  following 
interesting  picture  of  it: — 

"To  state  the  differences  between  the  classes  of  society,  and 
the  lines  of  demarcation  which  separated  them,  would  be  diffi 
cult.  The  law,  you  know,  admitted  none,  except  as  to  the 
twelve  counsellors.  Yet,  in  a  country  insulated  from  the  Euro 
pean  world,  insulated  from  its  sister  colonies,  with  whom  there 
was  scarcely  any  intercourse,  little  visited  by  foreigners,  and 
having  little  matter  to  act  upon  within  itself,  certain  families 
had  risen  to  splendour  by  wealth,  and  by  the  preservation  of  it 
from  generation  to  generation,  under  the  law  of  entails  ;  some 


PATRICK    HENRY.  OO 

hail  produced  a  scries  of  men  of  talents  ;  families  in  general 
had  remained  stationary  on  the  grounds  of  their  forefathers, 
for  there  was  no  emigration  to  the  westward  in  those  days ; 
the  Irish,  who  had  gotten  possession  of  the  valley  between  the 
Blue  Ridge  and  the  North  Mountain,  formed  a  barrier  over 
which  none  ventured  to  leap ;  and  their  manners  presented  no 
attraction  to  the  lowlanders  to  settle  among  them. 

"In  such  a  state  of  things,  scarcely  admitting  any  change  of 
station,  society  would  settle  itself  down  into  several  strata, 
separated  by  no  marked  lines,  but  shading  off  imperceptibly 
from  top  to  bottom,  nothing  disturbing  the  order  of  their  repose. 
There  were,  then,  first,  aristocrats,  composed  of  the  great  land 
holders,  who  had  seated  themselves  below  tidewater  on  the  main 
rivers,  and  lived  in  a  style  of  luxury  and  extravagance  insup 
portable  by  the  other  inhabitants,  and  which  indeed,  ended  in 
several  instances  in  the  ruin  of  their  own  fortunes.  Next 
to  these  were  what  might  be  called  half-breeds ;  the  de 
scendants  of  the  younger  sons  and  daughters  of  the  aristo 
crats,  who  inherited  the  pride  of  their  ancestors,  without  their 
wealth. 

"Then  came  the  pretenders,  men,  who,  from  vanity  or  the  im 
pulse  of  growing  wealth,  or  from  that  enterprise  which  i«  nat 
ural  to  talents,  sought  to  detach  themselves  from  the  plebeian 
ranks,  to  which  they  properly  belonged,  and  imitated,  at  some 
distance,  the  manners  and  habits  of  the  great.  Next  to  these, 
were  a  solid  and  independent  yeomanry,  looking  askance  at 
those  above,  yet  not  venturing  to  jostle  them.  And  last  and 
lowest,  a  feculum  of  beings,  called  overseers,  the  most  abject, 
degraded,  unprincipled  race ;  always  cap  in  hand  to  the  dons 
who  employed  them,  and  furnishing  materials  for  the  exercise 
of  their  pride,  insolence  and  spirit  of  domination." 

It  was  from  the  body  of  the  yeomanry,  whom  my  correspond 
ent  represents  as  "  looking  askance"  at  those  above  them,  that 
Mr.  Henry  proceeded.  He  belouged  to  the  body  of  the  people. 
His  birth,  education,  fortune,  and  manners,  made  him  one  of 
themselves.  They  regarded  him,  therefore,  as  their  own  prop 
erty,  and  sent  to  them  expressly  for  the  very  purpose  of  hum  • 
bling  the  pride  of  the  mighty,  and  exalting  the  honour  of  his 
own  class. 

Mr.  Henry  had  too  much  sagacity  not  to  see  this  advantage, 
and  too  much  good  sense  not  to  keep  and  to  improve  it.  He  seems 
to  have  formed  to  himself,  very  early  in  life,  just  views  of  so 
ciety,  and  to  have  acted  upon  them  with  the  most  laudable  sys 
tem  and  perseverance.  He  regarded  government  as  instituted 
solely  for  the  good  of  the  people;  and  not  for  the  benefit  of 
those  who  had  contrived  to  make  a  job  of  it.  He  looked  upon 


24  WIRT'S  LIFE  or 

the  body  of  the  people,  therefore,  as  the  basis  of  society,  the 
ibuntair  of  all  power,  and,  directly  or  indirectly,  of  all  offices 
and  honours,  which  had  been  instituted  originally  for  their  use. 
He  made  it  no  secret,  therefore ;  nay,  he  made  it  his  boast,  that 
on  every  occasion,  "  he  bowed  to  the  majesty  of  the  people." 

With  regard  to  himself,  he  saw  very  distinctly,  that  all  his 
hopes  rested  on  the  people's  favour.  He  therefore  adhered  to 
them  with  unshaken  fidelity.  He  retained  their  mariners,  their 
customs,  all  their  modes  of  life,  with  religious  caution.  He 
dressed  as  plainly  as  the  plainest  of  them  ;  ate  only  the  homely 
fare,  and  drank  the  simple  beverage  of  the  country  ;  mixed 
with  them  on  a  footing  of  the  most  entire  and  perfect  equality, 
and  conversed  with  them,  even  in  their  own  vicious  and  de 
praved  pronunciation.* 

If  this  last  were  the  effect  of  artful  compliance,  as  has  been 
strenuously  affirmed,  it  was  certainly  carrying  the  system  far 
ther  than  dignity  would  warrant.  Mr.  Henry  should  have 
been  the  instructer  as  well  as  the  friend  of  the  people,  and,  by 
his  example,  have  corrected  instead  of  adopting  their  errors. 
It  is  very  certain,  that  by  this  course  he  disgusted  many  of 
those  whom  it  was  often  his  business  to  persuade  ;  not  because 
they  considered  it  as  a  proof  of  vulgarity  and  ignorance,  but 
because  they  regarded  it  as  a  premeditated  artifice  to  catch  the 
favour  and  affections  of  the  people.  That  it  was  so,  I  am  not 
disposed  to  believe.  I  think  it  much  more  probable,  that  those 
errors  of  pronunciation  were  the  effect  of  early  and  inveterate 
habit,  which  had  become  incurable  before  he  was  informed  of 
his  mistake. 

He  had  no  occasion  to  resort  to  such  petty  artifices,  either  to 
gain  or  to  hold  the  affections  of  the  people.  He  held  them  by 
a  much  higher  and  a  much  firmer  title:  the  simplicity  of  his 
manners;  the  benevolence  of  his  disposition;  the  integrity  of 
his  life  ;  his  real  devotion  to  their  best  interests  ;  that  uncom 
mon  sagacity,  which  enabled  him  to  discern  those  interests  in 
every  situation ;  and  the  unshaken  constancy  with  which  he 
pursued  them,  in  spite  of  every  difficulty  and  danger  that  could 
threaten  him.  From  the  point  of  time,  of  which  we  are  now 
speaking,  it  is  very  certain  that  he  suffered  no  gale  of  fortune, 
however  high  or  prosperous,  to  separate  him  from  the  people  : 
nor  did  the  people,  on  their  part,  ever  desert  him.  He  was 

*  Governor  Page  relates,  that  he  once  heard  him  express  the  following  sen 
timents,  in  this  vicious  pronunciation  : — "  Naitrral  parts  7*  better  than  all  the 
larnin  upon  ycarth  ,•"  but  the  accuracy  of  Mr.  Page's  memory  is  questioned  in 
this  particular,  by  the  acquaintances  of  Mr.  Henry,  who  say,  that  he  was  too 
pood  a  grammarian  to  have  uttered  such  a  sentence,  although  they  admit  the 
inaccuracy  of  his  pronunciation,  in  some  of  the  words  imputed  to  him. 


PATRICK    HENRY.  35 

the  man  to  whom  they  looked  in  every  crisis  of  difficulty,  and 
the  favourite  on  whom  they  were  ever  ready  to  lavish  all  the 
honours  in  their  gift. 

Middlcton,  in  his  life  of  Cicero,  tells  us,  that  the  first  great 
speech  of  that  orator,  his  defence  of  lloscius  of  Arneria,  was 
made  at  the  age  of  twenty-seven ;  the  same  age,  he  adds, 
at  which  the  learned  have  remarked,  that  Demosthenes  distin 
guished  himself  in  the  assembly  of  the  Athenians  : — "as  if  this 
were  the  age,"  I  quote  his  own  words,  "at  which  these  great 
genios  regularly  bloomed  toward  maturity." 

It  is  rather  curious,  than  important,  to  observe,  that  Mr. 
Henry  furnishes  another  instance  in  support  of  this  theory ; 
since  it  was  precisely  in  the  same  year  of  his  life,  that  his  tal 
ents  first  became  known  to  himself  and  to  the  world.  Nor  let 
the  admirer  of  antiquity  revolt  at  our  coupling  the  name  of 
Henry  with  those  of  Cicero  and  Demosthenes :  it  can  be  no 
degradation  to  the  orator  either  of  Greece  or  Rome,  that  his 
name  stands  enrolled  on  the  same  page  with  that  of  a  man  of 
whom  such  a  judge  of  eloquence  as  Mr.  Jefferson  has  said, 
that  "  he  was  the  greatest  orator  that  ever  lircd." 

But  the  taste  of  professional  fame  which  Mr.  Henry  had  de 
rived  from  the  "  parsons'  cause,"  exquisite  as  it  must  have  been, 
was  not  sufficient  to  inspire  him  with  a  thirst  for  the  learning 
of  his  profession.  He  had  an  insuperable  aversion  to  the  old 
Hack-letter  of  the  law-books,  (which  was  often  a  topic  of  rail 
lery  with  him,)  and  he  was  never  able  to  conquer  it,  except  for 
preparation  in  some  particular  cause.  No  love  of  distinction, 
no  necessity,  however  severe,  were  strong  enough  to  bind  him 
down  to  a  regular  course  of  reading. 

He  could  not  brook  the  confinement.  The  reasoning  of  the 
law  was  too  artificial,  and  too  much  cramped  for  him.  While 
unavoidably  engaged  in  it,  he  felt  as  if  manacled.  His  mind 
was  perpetually  struggling  to  break  away.  His  genius  delight 
ed  in  liberty  and  space,  in  which  it  might  roam  at  large,  and 
feast  on  every  variety  of  intellectual  enjoyment.  Hence,  he 
was  never  profound  in  the  learning  of  the  law.  On  a  question 
merely  legal,  his  inferiors,  in  point  of  talents,  frequently  em 
barrassed  and  foiled  hirn ;  and  it  required  all  the  resources  of 
his  extraordinary  mind  to  support  the  distinction  which  he  had 
now  gained. 

The  most  successful  practice  in  the  county  courts  was,  in 
those  days,  but  a  slender  dependance  for  a  family.  Notwith 
standing,  therefore,  the  great  addition  to  his  business,  which 
we  have  noticed,  Mr.  Henry  seems  still  to  have  been  pressed 
by  want.  With  the  hope  of  improving  his  situation,  he  re 
moved,  in  the  year  seventeen  hundred  and  sixty-four,  to  ihc 


36  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

county  of  Louisa,  and   resided  at  a  place  called  the  Round 
about.     Here  I  have  learned  nothing  remarkable  of  him,  unless 
it  may  be  thought  so,  that  he  pursued  his  favourite  amusement 
of  hun ting  with  increased  ardour. 

"  After  his  removal  to  Louisa,"  says  my  informant,  "  he  has 
been  known  to  hunt  deer,  frequently  for  several  days  together, 
carrying  his  provision  with  him,  and  at  night  encamping  in  the 
woods.  After  the  hunt  was  over,  he  would  go  from  the  ground 
to  Louisa  court,  clad  in  a  coarse  cloth  coat,  stained  with  all  the 
trophies  of  the  chase,  greasy  leather  breeches,  ornamented  in 
the  same  way,  leggings  for  boots,  and  a  pair  of  saddle-bags  on 
his  arm.  Thus  accoutred,  he  would  enter  the  courthouse, 
take  up  the  first  of  his  causes  that  chanced  to  be  called ;  and  if 
there  was  any  scope  for  his  peculiar  talent,  throw  his  adversary 
into  the  background,  and  astonish  both  court  and  jury,  by  the 
powerful  effusions  of  his  natural  eloquence." 

There  must  have  been  something  irresistibly  captivating  in 
Mr.  Henry's  mode  of  speaking,  even  on  the  most  trivial  sub 
jects.  The  late  Judge  Lyons  has  been  heard  to  say  of  himself, 
while  practising  with  Mr.  Henry,  that  "he  could  write  a  letter, 
or  draw  a  declaration  or  plea  at  the  bar,  with  as  much  accu 
racy,  as  he  could  in  his  office,  under  all  circumstances,  except 
when  Patrick  rose  to  speak  ;  but  that  whenever  he  rose,  al 
though  it  might  be  on  so  trifling  a  subject  as  a  summons  and 
petition  for  twenty  shillings,  he  was  obliged  to  lay  down  his 
pen,  and  could  not  write  another  word,  until  the  speech  was 
finished."  Such  was  the  charm  of  his  voice  and  manner,  and 
the  interesting  originality  of  his  conceptions  ! 

In  the  fall  of  seventeen  hundred  and  sixty-four,  Mr.  Henry 
had  an  opportunity  of  exhibiting  himself  on  a  new  theatre.  A 
contest  occurred  in  the  house  of  burgesses,  in  the  case  of  Mr. 
James  Littlepage,  the  returned  member  for  the  county  of  Han 
over.  The  rival  candidate  and  petitioner  was  Nathaniel  West 
Dandridge.*  The  charge  against  Mr.  Littlepage  was  bribery 
and  corruption.  The  parties  were  heard  by  their  counsel,  be 
fore  the  committee  of  privileges  and  elections,  and  Mr.  Henry 
was  on  this  occasion  employed  by  Mr.  Dandridge. 

William.sburgh,  then  the  scat  of  government,  was  the  focus 
of  fashion  and  high  life.  The  residence  of  the  governor,  (the 
immediate  representative  of  the  sovereign,)  the  royal  state  in 

*  Here  is  another  mistake  of  Mr.  Burk.  He  states  the  contest  to  have 
been  between  Col.  Syme  (Mr.  Henry's  half-brother)  and  Col.  Richard  Little- 
page.  The  journal  contradicts  him,  and  supports  the  text.  There  was  no 
such  contest  as  that  of  which  he  speaks ;  at  least,  between  the  years  seventeen 
hundred  and  sixty-two  and  seventeen  hundred  and  sixty-eight. 


PATRICK    HENRY.  37 

which  he  lived,  the  polite  anil  brilliant  circle  which  he  always 
had  about  him,  diffused  their  influence  through  the  city  and  the 
circumjacent  county,  and  filled  Williamsburgh  with  a  degree  of 
emulation,  taste,  arid  elegance,  of  which  we  can  form  no  con 
ception  by  the  appearances  of  the  present  day.  During  the 
session  of  the  house  of  burgesses,  too*,  these  stately  modes  of 
life  assumed  their  richest  forms ;  the  town  was  filled  with  a 
concourse  of  visitors,  as  well  as  citizens,  attired  in  their  gayest 
colours  ;  the  streets  exhibited  a  continual  scene  of  animated 
and  glittering  tumult ;  the  houses,  of  costly  profusion. 

Such  was  the  scene  in  which  Mr.  Henry  was  now  called 
upon,  for  the  first  time,  to  make  his  appearance.  He  made  no 
preparation  for  it,  but  went  down  Justin  the  kind  of  garb  which 
he  had  been  accustomed  to  exhibit  all  his  life,  and  is  said  to  have 
worn  on  this  occasion  particularly,  a  suit  which  had  suffered 
very  considerably  in  the  service.  The  contrast  which  he  ex 
hibited  with  the  general  elegance  of  the  place,  was  so  striking, 
as  to  call  upon  him  the  eyes  of  all  the  curious  and  the  mis 
chievous  ;  and,  as  he  moved  awkwardly  about,  in  his  coarse 
and  threadbare  dress,  with  a  countenance  of  abstraction  and 
total  unconcern  as  to  what  was  passing  around  him,  (interest 
ing  as  it  seemed  to  every  one  else,)  he  was  stared  at  by  some 
us  a  prodigy,  and  regarded  by  others  as  an  unfortunate  being, 
whose  senses  were  disordered. 

When  he  went  to  attend  the  committee  of  privileges  and  elec* 
lions,  the  matter  was  still  worse.  "  The  proud  airs  of  aristoc 
racy,"  says  Judge  Tyler,  detailing  this  incident  of  Mr.  Henry's 
life,  "added  to  the  dignified  forms  of  that  truly  august  body, 
were  enough  to  have  deterred  any  man  possessing  less  firm 
ness  and  independence  of  spirit  than  Mr.  Henry.  He  was 
ushered  with  great  state  and  ceremony  into  the  room  of  the 
committee,  whose  chairman  was  Colonel  Bland.* 

"  Mr.  Henry  was  dressed  in  very  coarse  apparel ;  no  one 
knew  anything  of  him  ;f  and  scarcely  was  he  treated  with 

*  Mr.  Tyler  says,  "  that  enlightened  and  amiable  man,  John  Blair ;"  but  in 
this  he  is  corrected  by  the  journal,  which  shows  that  Mr.  Bland  was  the  chair 
man  of  the  committee  of  privileges  and  elections  for  that  year.  I  should  have 
thought,  from  the  general  accuracy  of  Mr.  Tyler's  statement,  that  Mr.  Blair 
might  have  been  officiating  as  chairman  pro  tempore,  in  the  absence  of  Col. 
Bland  ;  but  that  Mr.  Blair  does  not  appear,  by  the  journal,  to  have  belonged  to 
the  committee,  or  even  to  have  been  a  member  of  the  house  in  seventeen  hun 
dred  and  sixty-four.  His  name  does  not  appear  till  seventeen  hundred  and 
sixty-six. 

Mr.  Tyler,  reciting  Mr.  Henry's  own  narrative,  after  a  lapse  of  several  years, 
might  very  easily  have  confounded  two  names  as  similar  as  those  of  Bland  arid 
Blair. 

+  That  is,  I  presume,  of  his  person ;  for  after  the  very  splendid  exhibition 


38  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

decent  re.spcct  by  any  one  except  the  chairman,  who  could  not 
do  so  much  violence  to  his  feelings  and  principles,  as  to  de 
part,  on  any  occasion,  from  the  delicacy  of  the  gentleman.  But 
the  general  contempt  was  soon  changed  into  as  general  admi 
ration  ;  for  Mr.  Henry  distinguished  himself  by  a  copious  and 
brilliant  display  on  the  gfeat  subject  of  the  rights  of  suffrage, 
superior  to  anything  that  had  been  heard  before  within  those 
walls.  Such  a  burst  of  eloquence,  from  a  man  so  very  plain 
and  ordinary  in  his  appearance,  struck  the  committee  with 
amazement ;  so  that  a  deep  and  perfect  silence  took  place  du 
ring  the  speech,  and  nota  sound  but  from  his  lips  was  to  beheard 
in  the  room." 

So  far,  Judge  Tyler.  Judge  Winston  relating  the  same  inci 
dent,  says  :  "  Some  time  after,  a  member  of  the  house,  speaking 
to  me  of  this  occurrence,  said,  he  had,  for  a  day  or  two,  ob 
served  an  ill-dressed  young  man  sauntering  in  the  lobby  ;  that 
he  seemed  to  be  a  stranger  to  everybody,  and  he  had  not  the 
curiosity  to  inquire  his  name  ;  but  that,  attending  when  the 
case  of  the  contested  election  came  on,  he  was  surprised  to  find 
this  same  person  counsel  for  one  of  the  parties  ;  and  still  more 
so  when  he  delivered  an  argument  superior  to  anything  he  had 
ever  heard."  The  case,  according  to  the  report  of  the  com 
mittee  of  privileges  and  elections,  is  not  one  which  seems  to 
present  much  scope  for  a  very  interesting  discussion  ;  but  Mr. 
Henry's  was  one  of  those  minds  which  impart  interest  to  every 
subject  they  touch. 

The  same  year,  seventeen  hundred   and  sixty-four,  is  mem 
orable  for  the  origination  of  that  great  question  which  led  final 
ly  to  the  independence  of  the  United  States.     It  has  been  said 
by  a  gentleman,  at  least  as  well  qualified  to  judge  as  any  other 
now  alive,  (Mr.  Jefferson,)  that  "  Mr.  Henry  certainly  gave  the 
first  impulse  to  the  ball  of  the  revolution."     In  order  to  show 
the  correctness  of  this  position,  it  is  proper  to  ascertain  the 
precise  point  to  which  the  controversy  with  Great  Britain  had 
advanced,  when  Mr.  Henry  first  presented  himself  in  the  char 
acter  of  a  statesman. 

In  Mar«h,  seventeen  hundred  and  sixty-four,  the  British  par 
liament  had  passed  resolutions,  preparatory  to  the  levying  a 
revenue  on  the  colonies  by  a  stamp-tax.  These  resolutions 
were  communicated  to  the  house  of  burgesses  of  Virginia, 
through  their  committee  of  correspondence,  by  the  colonial 
agent ;  and  having  been  maturely  considered,  resulted  in  the 
appointment  of  a  special  committee  to  prepare  an  address  to 

which  he  made  in  the  parsons'  cause,  his  name  could  not  have  been  wholly 
unknown  :  the  text,  however,  gives  the  words  of  my  correspondent  faithfully. 


PATRICK    HENRY.  39 

the  king,  a  memorial  to  the  lords,  and  a  remonstrance  to  the 
house  of  commons. 

On  the  eighteenth  of  December,  seventeen  hundred  and  six 
ty-four,  these  papers  were  reported,  and  (after  various  amend 
ments,  which  considerably  diluted  their  spirit)  received  the  con 
currence  of  the  council.  The  reader  will  perceive,  on  perusing 
them,  (see  Appendix,  note  A,)  that  while  they  affirm,  in  clear 
and  strong  terms,  the  constitutional  exemption  of  the  colony 
from  taxation  by  the  British  parliament,  they  breathe,  never 
theless,  a  tone  so  suppliant,  and  exhibit  such  a  picture  of  anti 
cipated  suffering  from  the  pressure  of  the  tax  on  the  exhausted 
resources  of  the  colony,  as  to  indicate  that  no  opposition  be- 
rond  remonstrance  was,  at  this  time,  meditated.  Remon 
strance,  however,  was  vain.  In  January,  seventeen  hundred 
4t\d  sixty-nve,  the  famous  stamp-act  was  passed,  to  take  effect 
ill  the  colonies  on  the  first  of  November  following. 

The  annunciation  of  this  measure  seems  at  first  to  have  stun 
ned  the  comment  from  one  extremity  to  the  other.  The  pres- 
M^S,  which  spread  the  intelligence  among  the  people,  were 
tnemsclves  manifestly  confounded  ;  and  so  far  from  inspiring 
the  energy  of  resistance,  they  seemed  rather  disposed  to  have 
looked  out  for  lopics  of  consolation,  under  submission.*  The 
truth  is,  that  ail  ranks  of  society  were  confounded.  No  one 
knew  what  10  hope,  what  more  to  fear,  or  what  course  was  best 
to  be  taken,  oome,  indeed,  were  fond  enough  to  entertain 
hopes  that  tne  united  remonstrances  of  the  colonial  legislatures, 
the  fate  01*  wnicft  had  not  yet  been  heard,  might  induce  the 
mother-country  to  change  her  policy ;  these  hopes,  however, 
•were  faint ;  and  iew  there  were  that  entertained  them.  Many, 
considered  submission,  in  the  present  state  of  the  colonies,  as 
unavoidable  ;  and  that  this  was  the  opinion  of  Doctor  Franklin 
himself,  is  apparent  from  the  remark  with  which  he  took  leave 
of  Mr.  Ingersol,  on  his  departure  for  America. f 

The  idea  of  resistance,  by  force  was  nowhere  glanced  at  in 
the  most  distant  manner;  no  heart  seems  to  have  been  bold 
enough,  at  first,  to  conceive  it.  Men,  on  other  occasions  mark 
ed  for  intrepidity  and  decision,  now  hung  back,  unwilling  to 
submit,  and  yet  afraid  to  speak  out  in  the  language  of  bold  and 

*  Thus  in  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette  of  the  thirtieth  of  May,  seventeen  hun 
dred  and  sixty-five  :  "\Ve  hear  the  sums  of  money  arising  from  the  new  stamp 
duties  in  North  America,  for  the  first  five  years,  are  chiefly  to  be  applied  tow 
ard  making  commodious  post-roads  from  one  province  to  another,  erecting 
bridges  where  necessary,  and  other  measures  equally  important  to  facilitate  an 
extensive  trade." 

t  "  Go  home  and  tell  your  countrymen  to  get  children  as  fast  as  they 
can." — GORDOX. 


40 

open  defiance.  It  was  just  at  this  moment  of  despondency  ir> 
some  quarters,  suspense  in  others,  and  surly  and  reluctant  sub 
mission  wherever  submission  appeared,  that  Patrick  Henry 
stood  forth  to  raise  the  drooping  spirit  of  the  people,  and  to 
unite  all  hearts  and  hands  in  the  cause  of  his  country. 

With  the  view  of  making  way  for  him,  and  placing  him  in 
the  public  councils  of  his  country,  Mr.  William  Johnson,  who 
had  been  elected  a  member  of  the  house  of  burgesses  for  the 
county  of  Louisa,  vacated  his  seat  by  accepting  the  commission 
of  coroner.  The  writ  of  election  to  supply  his  place  was 
awarded  on  the  first  of  May,  seventeen  hundred  and  sixty-five, 
and  on  the  twentieth  day  of  that  month,  it  appears  by  the  jour 
nals,  that  Mr.  Henry  was  added  to  the  committee  for  courts  of 
justice. 

Here,  again,  he  was  upon  a  new  theatre,  and  personally  un 
known,  except  to  those  few  who  might  have  heard  his  argu 
ment  on  the  contested  election  of  Mr.  Littlepage,  the  preceding 
winter.  His  dress  and  manners  were  still  those  of  t'he  plain 
planter,  and,  in  his  personal  appearance,  there  was  nothing  to 
excite  curiosity,  or  awaken  expectation.  The  forms  of  the 
house,  of  which  he  was  now  for  the  first  time  a  member,  were, 
as  has  been  stated,  most  awfully  dignified  ;  its  active  members 
were  composed  of  the  landed  aristocracy  and  their  adherents  ; 
and  among  them  were  men  to  whose  superiority  of  talents,  as  well 
as  influence  and  power,  the  yeomanry  of  the  country  had  long 
been  accustomed  to  bow  with  tacit  and  submissive  deference. 

John  Robinson,  the  speaker  of  the  house,  was  one  of  the 
most  opulent  men  in  the  colony,  and  the  acknowledged  head  of 
its  landed  aristocracy.  He  had  now  filled  the  chair  of  the 
house  with  great  dignity,  and  without  interruption,  for  five-and- 
twenty  years.  He  was,  also,  the  colonial  treasurer;  and  from 
the  high  offices  which  he  held,  in  connexion  with  the  regal 
government,  was  as  warmly  attached  to  its  authority  by  inter 
est,  as  he  was  by  taste  and  fashion  to  all  the  grandeur  of  its 
forms. 

But,  notwithstanding  this  close  alliance  with  the  court,  his 
personal  influence,  in  every  class  of  society,  was  very  great; 
and  he  held  that  influence  by  a  tenure  fur  superior  to  any  that 
his  own  vast  wealth  or  the  power  of  the  crown  could  confer. 
For  he  possessed  a  strong  and  well-informed  mind,  enlarged 
and  corrected  by  great  experience,  and  he  united  with  it  a  be 
nevolence  of  spirit  and  a  courtesy  of  manners  which  never  fail 
ed  to  attach  every  heart  that  approached  him.  The  poor  drew 
near  to  him  without  awe  or  embarrassment ;  they  came,  indeed, 
with  filial  confidence  ;  for  they  never  failed  to  find  in  him  a 
sympathetic  friend  and  an  able  counsellor.  The  rich  enjoyed 


PATRICK    HENRY.  4i 

in  him  an  easy,  enlightened,  and  instructive  companion ;  and, 
next  to  the  governor,  regarded  him  as  the  highest  model  of 
elegance  and  fashion. 

An  anecdote  is  related  of  this  gentleman,  which  displays  in 
a  strong  and  amiable  light,  the  exalted  force  of  his  feelings, 
and  the  truly  noble  cast  of  his  manners.  When  Colonel  Wash 
ington  (the  immortal  saviour  of  his  country)  had  closed  his 
career  in  the  French  and  Indian  war,  and  had  become  a  mem 
ber  of  the  house  of  burgesses,  the  speaker,  Robinson,  wa« 
directed,  by  a  vote  of  the  house,  to  return  their  thanks  to  that 
gentleman,  on  behalf  of  the  colony,  for  the  distinguished  mili 
tary  services  which  he  had  rendered  to  his  country.  As  soon 
as  Colonel  Washington  took  his  seat,  Mr.  Robinson,  in  obedi 
ence  to  this  order,  and  following  the  impulse  of  his  own  gen 
erous  and  grateful  heart,  discharged  the  duty  with  great  dig* 
nily ;  but  with  such  warmth  of  colouring  and  strength  of 
expression,  as  entirely  confounded  the  young  hero. 

lie  rose  to  express  his  acknowledgments  for  the  honour  ;  but 
such  was  his  trepidation  and  confusion,  that  he  could  not  give 
distinct  utterance  to  a  single  syllable.  He  blushed,  stammer 
ed,  and  trembled,  for  a  second  ;  when  the  speaker  relieved  htm 
by  a  stroke  of  address  that  would  have  done  honour  to  Louis 
^IV.  in  his  proudest  and  happiest  moment.  "  Sit  down,  Mr. 
Washington,"  said  he,  with  a  conciliating  smile;  "your  mod 
esty  is  equal  to  your  valour ;  and  that  surpasses  the  power  of 
tiny  language  that  I  possess."* 

Peyton  Randolph,  the  king's  attorney-general,  held  the  next 
rank  to  the  speaker.  He  was  not  distinguished  for  eloquence  \ 
but  he  derived  great  weight  from  the  solid  powers  of  his  un 
derstanding,  and  the  no  less  solid  virtues  of  his  heart.  He 
Was  well  acquainted  with  all  the  forms  of  parliamentary  pro 
ceeding  ;  was  an  eminent  lawyer,  and  a  well-informed  and  prac 
tical  statesman. 

Richard  Bland  was  one  of  the  most  enlightened  men  in  the 
colony.  He  was  a  man  of  finished  education,  and  of  the  most 
unbending  habits  of  application.  His  perfect  mastery  of  every 
fact  connected  with  the  settlement  and  progress  of  the  colony, 
had  given  him  the  name  of  the  Virginian  antiquary.!  He  was 
a  politician  of  the  first  class  ;  a  profound  logician,  and  was  also 
considered  as  the  first  writer  in  the  colony.^ 

Edmund  Pendleton,  the  protege  of  the  speaker  Robinson, 
was  also  among  the  most  prominent  members  in  the  house. 

*  On  the  authority  of  Edmund  Randolph.  t  Edmund  Randolph. 

t  "  He  was,"  says  a  correspondent,  "  the  most  learned  and  logical  man  of 
those  who  took  a  prominent  lead  ip  public  affairs ;  profound  in  constitutional 


12  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

He  had,  in  a  great  measure,  overcome  the  disadvantages  of  an 
extremely  defective  education,  and  by  the  force  of  good  com 
pany  and  the  study  of  correct  authors,  had  attained  to  great 
accuracy  and  perspicuity  of  style.  The  patronage  of  the 
speaker  had  introduced  him  to  the  first  circles,  and  his  man 
ners  were  elevated,  graceful  and  insinuating.  His  person  was 
spare,  but  well-proportioned ;  and  his  countenance  one  of  the 
finest  in  the  world  ;  serene — contemplative — benignant — with 
that  expression  of  unclouded  intelligence  and  extensive  re 
search,  which  seemed  to  denote  him  capable  of  anything  that 
could  be  effected  by  the  power  of  the  human  mind. 

His  mind  itself  was  of  a  very  fine  order.  It  was  clear,  com 
prehensive,  sagacious  and  correct ;  with  a  most  acute  and  sub 
tile  faculty  of  discrimination  ;  a  fertility  of  expedient  which 
could  never  be  exhausted;  a  dexterity  of  address  which  never  lost 
an  advantage  and  never  gave  one  ;  and  a  capacity  for  continued 
and  unremitting  application,  which  was  perfectly  invincible. 

As  a  lawyer  and  a  statesman,  he  had  few  equals ;  no  supe 
riors.  For  parliamentary  management,  he  was  without  a  rival. 
With  all  these  advantages  of  person,  manners,  address,  and 
intellect,  he  was  also  a  speaker  of  distinguished  eminence. 

He  had  that  silver  voice*  of  which  Cicero  makes  such  fre 
quent  and  honourable  mention — an  articulation  uncommonly 
distinct — a  perennial  stream  of  transparent,  cool,  and  sweet 
elocution ;  and  the  power  of  presenting  his  arguments  with 
great  simplicity  and  striking  effect.  He  was  always  graceful, 
argumentative,  persuasive;  never  vehement,  rapid,  or  abrupt. 
He  could  instruct  and  delight ;  but  he  had  no  pretensions  to 
those  high  powers  which  are  calculated  to  "  shake  the  human 
soul." 

George  Wythe,  also  a  member  of  the  House,  was  confessed 
ly  among  the  first  in  point  of  abilities.  There  is  a  story  circu 
lated,  as  upon  his  own  authority,  that  he  was  initiated  by  his 

lore  ;  but  a  most  ungraceful  speaker  in  debate.  He  wrote  the  first  pamphlet 
on  the  nature  of  the  connexion  with  Great  Britain,  which  had  any  pretensions 
to  accuracy  of  view  on  that  subject  ;  but  it  was  a  singular  one  :  he  would  set 
out  on  sound  principles,  pursue  them  logically,  till  he  found  them  leading  to 
the  precipice  which  we  had  to  leap  ;  start  back,  alarmed  ;  then  resume  hip 
ground,  go  over  it  in  another  direction,  be  led  again,  by  the  correctness  of  his- 
reasoning,  to  the  same  place,  and  again  tack  about  and  try  other  processes  to 
reconcile  right  and  wrong ;  but  left  his  reader  and  himself  bewildered  between 
the  steady  index  of  the  compass  in  their  hand,  and  the  phantasm  to  which  it 
seemed  to  point.  Still,  there  was  more  sound  matter  in  this  pamphlet  than  in 
the  celebrated  Farmer's  Letters,  which  were  really  but  an  ignis  fatuus,  mis 
leading  us  from  true  principle." 

*  Vox  argentea.     See  the  Brutus,  passim.    * 


PATRICK    HENRY.  43 

mother  in  the  Latin  classics.!  Be  this  as  it  may,  it  is  certain 
that  he  had  raised  upon  the  original  foundation,  whencesoever 
acquired,  a  superstructure  of  ancient  literature  which  has  been 
rarely  equalled  in  this  country.  He  was  perfectly  familiar 
with  the  authors  of  Greece  and  Rome ;  read  them  with  the 
same  ease,  and  quoted  them  with  the  same  promptitude  that  he 
could  the  authors  in  his  native  tongue.  He  carried  his  love  of 
antiquity  rather  too  far;  for  he  frequently  subjected  himself  to 
the  charge  of  pedantry  ;  and  his  admiration  of  the  gigantic 
writers  of  Queen  Elizabeth's  reign,  had  unfortunately  betrayed 
him  into  an  imitation  of  their  quaintness. 

Yet,  with  all  this  singularity  of  taste,  he  was  a  man  of  great 
capacity  ;  powerful  in  argument ;  frequently  pathetic  ;  and  ele 
gantly  keen  and  sarcastic  in  repartee.  He  was  long  the  rival 
of  Mr.  Pendleton  at  the  bar,  whom  he  equalled  as  a  common 
lawyer,  and  greatly  surpassed  as  a  civilian  :  but  he  was  too 
open  and  direct  in  his  conduct,  and  possessed  too  little  man 
agement,  either  with  regard  to  his  own  temper  or  those  of 
other  men,  to  cope  with  so  cool  and  skilful  an  adversary. 
Though  a  full  match  for  Mr.  Pendleton  in  the  powers  of  fair 
and  solid  reasoning,  Mr.  Pendleton  could,  whenever  he  pleased, 
and  would,  whenever  it  was  necessary,  tease  him  with  quibbles, 
and  vex  him  with  sophistries,  until  he  destroyed  the  composure 
of  his  mind,  and  robbed  him  of  his  strength. 

No  man  was  ever  more  entirely  destitute  of  art  than  Mr. 
Wythe.  He  knew  nothing,  even  in  his  profession,  and  never 
would  know  anything  of  "crooked  and  indirect  by-ways." 
Whatever  he  had  to  do,  was  to  be  done  openly,  avowedly,  and 
above-board.  He  would  not,  even  at  the  bar,  have  accepted 
of  success  on  any  other  terms. 

This  simplicity  and  integrity  of  character,  although  it  some 
times  exposed  hirn  to  the  arts  and  sneers  of  the  less  scrupulous, 
placed  him  before  his  countrymen  on  the  ground  which  Cesar 
wished  his  wife  to  occupy  ;  he  was  not  only  pure,  but  above 
all  suspicion.  The  unaffected  sanctity  of  his  principles,  united 
with  his  modesty  and  simple  elegance  of  manners,  his  attic  wit, 
his  stores  of  rare  knowledge,  his  capacity  for  business,  and  the 
real  power  of  his  intellect,  not  only  raised  him  to  great  emi 
nence  in  public,  but  rendered  him  a  delightful  companion,  and 
a  most  valuable  friend. 

But  Richard  Henry  Lee  was  the  Cicero  of  the  house.  His 
face  itself  was  on  the  Roman  model ;  his  nose  Cesarean  ;  the 
port  and  carriage  of  his  head,  leaning  persuasively  and  grace 
fully  forward  ;  and  the  whole  contour  noble  and  fine.  Mr.  Lee 
was,  by  far,  the  most  elegant  scholar  in  the  house.  He  had 

*  I  heard  it  from  the  late  Judge  Nelson,  his  relation. 


44  WIRT'S  LIFE  OP 

studied  the  classics  in  the  true  spirit  of  criticism.  His  taste 
had  that  delicate  touch,  which  seized  with  intuitive  certainty 
every  beauty  of  an  author,  and  his  genius  that  native  affinity 
which  combined  them  without  an  effort.  Into  every  walk  of 
literature  and  science,  he  had  carried  this  mind  of  exquisite 
selection,  and  brought  it  back  to  the  business  of  life,  crowned 
with  every  light  of  learning,  and  decked  with  every  wreath» 
that  all  the  muses  and  all  the  graces  could  entwine. 

Nor  did  those  light  decorations  constitute  the  whole  value  of 
its  freight.  He  possessed  a  rich  store  of  historical  and  politi 
cal  knowledge,  with  an  activity  of  observation,  and  a  certainty 
of  judgment,  that  turned  that  knowledge  to  the  very  best  ac 
count.  He  was  not  a  lawyer  by  profession  ;  but, he  understood 
thoroughly  the  constitution  both  of  the  mother-country  and 
her  colonies ;  and  the  elements  also  of  the  civil  and  municipal 
law.  Thus,  while  his  eloquence  was  free  from  those  stiff  and 
technical  restraints  which  the  habits  of  forensic  speaking  are 
so  apt  to  generate,  he  had  all  the  legal  learning  which  is  neces 
sary  to  a  statesman.  He  reasoned  well,  and  declaimed  freely 
and  splendidly.  The  note  of  his  voice  was  deeper  and  more 
melodious  than  that  of  Mr.  Pendlelon.  It  was  the  canorous 
voice*  of  Cicero, 

He  had  lost  the  use  of  one  of  his  hands,  which  he  kept  con 
stantly  covered  with  a  black-silk  bandage,  neatly  fitted  to  the 
palm 'of  his  hand,  but  leaving  his  thumb  free;  yet,  notwith 
standing  this  disadvantage,  his  gesture  was  so  graceful  and  so 
highly  finished,  that  it  was  said  he  had  acquired  it  by  practising 
before  a  mirror,  t  Such  was  his  promptitude,  that  he  required 
no  preparation  for  debate.  He  was  ready  for  any  subject,  as 
soon  as  it  was  announced  ;  and  his  speech  was  so  copious,  so 
rich,  so  mellifluous,  set  off  with  such  bewitching  cadence  of 
voice,  and  such  captivating  grace  of  action,  that,  while  you 
listened  to  him,  you  desired  to  hear  nothing  superior,  and  in 
deed  thought  him  perfect.  He  had  a  quick  sensibility  and  a 
fervid  imagination,  which  Mr.  Pendleton  wanted.  Hence  his 
orations  were  warmer  and  more  delightfully  interesting  ;  yet 
still,  to  him  those  keys  were  not  consigned  which  could  unlock 
the  sources  either  of  the  strong  or  tender  passions. 

His  defect  was,  that  he  was  too  smooth  and  too  sweet.  His 
style  bore  a  striking  resemblance  to  that  of  Herodotus,  as  de 
scribed  by  the  Roman  orator  :  "  He  flowed  on,  like  a  quiet 
and  placid  river,  without  a  ripple. "|  He  flowed,  too,  through 
banks  covered  with  all  the  fresh  verdure  and  variegated  bloom 

*  Vox  canora.     See  the  Brutus,  passim.  t  Edmund  Randolph. 

*<Sine  ullis  sahbris,  quasi  sejatus  amnis,jliiit.     Qrai.  XII.  39. 


PATRICK    HENRY.  45 

•  . 

of  the  spring ;  but  his  course  was  too  subdued,  and  too  beauti 
fully  regular.  A  cataract,  like  that  of  Niagara,  crowned  with 
overhanging  rocks  and  mountains,  in  all  the  rude  and  awful 
grandeur  of  nature,  would  have  brought  him  nearer  to  the 
standard  of  Homer  and  of  Henry. 

These  were  some  of  the  stars  of  first  magnitude  that  shone 
in  the  house  of  burgesses  in  the  year  seventeen  hundred  and 
sixty-five.  There  was  yet  a  cluster  of  minor  luminaries,  which 
it  were  endless  to  delineate,  but  whose  blended  rays  contrib 
uted  to  form  that  uncommon  galaxy  in  which  the  plebeian 
Henry  was  now  called  upon  to  take  his  place.  What  had  he 
to  enable  him  to  cope  with  all  this  lustre  of  talents  and  erudi 
tion  ?  Very  little  more  than  the  native  strength  of  his  charac 
ter;  a  constancy  of  soul,  which  no  array  of  power  could 
shake ;  a  genius  that  designed  with  all  the  boldness  of  Angelo, 
and  an  imagination  that  coloured  with  all  the  felicity  of  Titian. 

It  has  been  already  stated,  that  Mr.  Henry  was  elected  with 
express  reference  to  an  opposition  to  the  stamp-act.  It  was 
not,  however,  expected  by  his  constituents,  or  meditated  by 
himself,  that  he  should  lead  the  opposition.  The  addresses  of 
the  preceding  year,  made  to  the  king,  lords,  and  commons,  in 
which  so  strong  a  truth  had  been  stated,  as  that  the  stamp-act, 
if  persisted  in,  would  reduce  the  colony  to  a  state  of  slavery, 
founded  a  hope  that  those  who  had  commenced  the  opposition 
by  remonstrance,  would  continue  to  give  it  the  eclat  of  their 
high  names,  by  resistance  of  a  bolder  character,  if  bolder 
should  be  necessary.  Mr.  Henry  waited,  therefore,  to  file  in 
under  the  first  champion  that  should  raise  the  banner  of  colo 
nial  liberty.  In  the  meantime,  another  subject  unexpectedly 
occurred  to  call  him  up,  and  it  was  on  this  other  that  he  made 
his  debut  in  the  house. 

The  incident  has  been  stated  to  me  in  the  following  terms, 
by  a  gentleman  (Mr.  Jefferson)  who  heard  the  debate  :  "  The 
gentlemen  of  this  country  had,  at  that  time,  become  deeply  in 
volved  in  that  state  of  indebtment  which  has  since  ended  in  so 
general  a  crush  of  their  fortunes.  Mr.  Robinson,  the  speaker, 
was  also  the  treasurer,  an  officer  always  chosen  by  the  assem 
bly.  He  was  an  excellent  man,  liberal,  friendly,  and  rich.  He 
had  been  drawn  in  to  lend,  on  his  own  account,  great  sums  of 
money  to  persons  of  this  description ;  and  especially  those 
who  were  of  the  assembly. 

"  He  used  freely  for  this  purpose  the  public  money,  confiding 
for  its  replacement  in  his  own  means,  and  the  securities  he  had 
taken  on  those  loans.  About  this  time,  however,  he  became 
sensible  that  his  deficit  to  the  public  was  become  so  enormous, 
3s  that  a  discovery  must  soon  take  place,  for  as  yet  the  public 


46  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

had  no  suspicion  of  it.  He  devised,  therefore,  with  his  friends 
in  the  assembly,  a  plan  for  a  public  loan-office,  to  a  certain 
amount,  from  which'moneys  might  be  lent  on  public  account, 
and  on  good  landed  security  to  individuals. 

"  I  find,  in  Royle's  Virginia  Gazette  of  the  seventeenth  of 
May,  seventeen  hundred  and  sixty-five,  this  proposition  for  a 
loan-office  presented,  its  advantages  detailed,  and  the  plan  ex 
plained.  It  seems  to  have  been  done  by  a  borrowing  member, 
from  the  feeling  with  which  the  motives  are  expressed,  and  to 
have  been  preparatory  to  the  intended  motion.  Between  the 
seventeenth  and  thirtieth,  (the  latter  being  the  date  of  Mr. 
Henry's  resolutions  on  the  stamp-act,)  the  motion  for  a  loan- 
office  was  accordingly  brought  forward  in  the  house  of  bur 
gesses  ;  and  had  it  succeeded,  the  debts  due  to  Robinson  on 
these  loans  would  have  been  transferred  to  the  public,  and  his 
deficit  thus  completely  covered. 

**  This  state  of  things,  however,  was  not  yet  known :  but 
Mr.  Henry  attacked  the  scheme  on  other  general  grounds,  in 
that  style  of  bold,  grand,  and  overwhelming  eloquence,  for 
which  he  became  so  justly  celebrated  afterward.  I  had  been 
intimate  with  him  from  the  year  seventeen  hundred  and  fifty- 
nine  and  sixty,  and  felt  an  interest  in  wrhat  concerned  him  ;  and 
I  can  never  forget  a  particular  exclamation  of  his  in  the  debate, 
which  electrified  his  hearers.  It  had  been  urged,  that,  from 
certain  unhappy  circumstances  of  the  colony,  men  of  substan 
tial  property  had  contracted  debts,  which,  if  exacted  suddenly, 
must  ruin  them  and  their  families,  but  with  a  little  indulgence 
of  time,  might  be  paid  with  ease. 

'"What,  sir!'  exclaimed  Mr.  Henry,  in  animadverting  on 
this,  *  is  it  proposed  then  to  reclaim  the  spendthrift  from  his 
dissipation  and  extravagance,  by  filling  his  pockets  with 
money  ?'  These  expressions  are  indelibly  impressed  on  my 
memory.  He  laid  open  with  so  much  energy  the  spirit  of  fa 
vouritism,  on  which  the  proposition  was  founded,  and  the 
abuses  to  which  it  would  lead,  that  it  was  crushed  in  its  birth. 
He  carried  with  him  all  the  members  of  the  upper  counties, 
and  left  a  minority  composed  merely  of  the  aristocracy  of  the 
country.  From  this  time  his  popularity  swelled  apace  ;  and 
Mr.  Robinson  dying  the  year  afterward,  his  deficit  \vsis  brought 
to  light,  and  discovered  the  true  object  of  the  proposition."* 

*  In  reply  to  this  communication,  I  stated  my  surprise  that  no  evidence  of 
this  motion  was  to  be  found  on  the  journals  of  the  day,  and  begged  my  corres 
pondent  to  explain  it,  which  he  does  very  satisfactorily  in  the  following  terms  : 
"Abortive  motions  are  not  always  entered  on  the  journals,  or  rather  they  are 
rarely  entered.  It  is  the  modern  introduction  of  yeas  and  nays  which  haa 
given  the  means  of  placing  a  rejected  motion  on  the  journals:  and  it  is  likely 


PATRICK    HENRY.  47 

The  exclamation  above  quoted  by  my  correspondent  as  hav 
ing  electrified  Mr.  Henry's  hearers,  is  a  striking  specimen  of 
one  of  his  great  excellences  in  speaking;  which  was,  the 
power  of  condensing  the  substance  of  a  long  argument,  into 
one  short  pithy  question.  The  hearer  was  surprised,  in  find 
ing  himself  brought  so  suddenly  and  so  clearly  to  a  just  con 
clusion.  He  could  scarcely  conceive  how  it  was  effected ;  and 
could  not  fail  to  regard,  with  high  admiration,  the  power  of  that 
intellect  which  could  come  at  its  ends  by  so  short  a  course ; 
and  work  out  its  purposes  with  the  quickness  and  certainty  of 
magic. 

The  aristocracy  were  startled  at  such  a  phenomenon  from 
the  plebeian  ranks.  They  could  not  be  otherwise  than  indig 
nant  at  the  presumption  of  an  obscure  and  unpolished  rustic, 
who,  without  asking  the  support  or  countenance  of  any  patron 
among  themselves,  stood  upon  his  own  ground,  and  bearded 
them  even  in  their  den.  That  this  rustic  should  have  been 
able,  too,  by  his  single  strength,  to  baffle  their  whole  phalanx 
and  put  it  to  rout,  was  a  mortification  too  humiliating  to  be 
easily  borne.  They  affected  to  ridicule  his  vicious  and  de 
praved  pronunciation,  the  homespun  coarseness  of  his  lan 
guage,  and  his  hypocritical  canting  in  relation  to  his  humility 
and  ignorance. 

But  they  could  not  help  admiring  and  envying  his  wonderful 
gifts  ;  that  thorough  knowledge  of  the  human  heart  which  he 
displayed  ;  that  power  of  throwing  his  reasoning  into  short 
and  clear  aphorisms  ;  which,  desultory  as  they  were,  supplied, 
in  a  great  degree,  the  place  of  method  and  logic ;  that  imagina 
tion  so  copious,  poetic,  and  sublime ;  the  irresistible  power 
with  which  he  caused  every  passion  to  rise  at  his  bidding ;  and 
all  the  rugged  might  and  majesty  of  his  eloquence.  From  this 
moment,  he  had  no  friends  on  the  aristocratic  side  of  the 
house.  They  looked  upon  him  with  envy  and  with  terror. 
They  were  forced  at  length  to  praise  his  genius  ;  but  that  praise 

that  the  speaker,  who,  as  treasurer,  was  to  be  the  loan-officer,  and  had  the  di 
rection  of  the  journals,  v.-ould  choose  to  omit  an  entry  of  the  motion  in  this 
case.  This  accounts  sufficiently  for  the  absence  of  any  trace  of  the  motion  on 
the  journals.  There  was  no  suspicion  then,  (so  far  at  least  as  I  knew,)  that 
Mr.  Robinson  had  used  the  public  money  in  private  loans  to  his  friends,  and 
that  the  secret  object  of  this  scheme  was  to  transfer  those  debtors  to  the  pub 
lic,  and  thus  clear  his  accounts.  I  have  diligently  examined  the  names  of  the 
members  on  the  journals  of  seventeen  hundred  and  sixty-four,  to  see  if  any 
were  still  living,  to  whose  memory -we  might  recur  on  this  subject ;  but  I  find 
not  a  single  one  now  remaining  in  life."  This  debate  must  have  been  in  sev 
enteen  hundred  and  sixty-five  instead  of  seventeen  hundred  and  sixty-four. 
The.  only  surviving  menaber  of  that  year  is  Paul  Carrington,  sen.,  esq.,  who 
took  his  seat  iu  tbe  house  after  the  debate  in  question. 


48  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

was  wrung  from  them,  with  painful  reluctance.  They  would 
have  denied  it  if  they  could.  They  would  have  overshadowed 
it ;  and  did  at  first  try  to  overshadow  it,  by  magnifying  his 
defects  ;  but  it  would  have  been  as  easy  for  them  to  have  eclip 
sed  the  splendour  of  the  sun,  by  pointing  to  his  spots. 

If,  however,  he  had  lost  one  side  of  the  house  by  his  un 
daunted  manner  of  blowing  up  this  aristocratic  project,  he  had 
made  the  other  side  his  fast  friends.  They  had  listened  with  ad 
miration,  unmixed  with  envy.  Their  souls  had  been  struck  with 
amazement  and  rapture,  and  thrilled  with  unspeakable  sensa 
tions  which  they  had  never  felt  before.  The  man,  too,  who 
had  produced  these  effects,  was  one  of  themselves.  This  was 
balm  to  them  ;  for  there  is  a  wide  difference  between  that  dis 
tant  admiration,  which  we  pay  as  a  tax.  due  to  long-standing 
merit,  in  superior  rank,  and  that  throbbing  applause  which 
rushes  spontaneously  and  warm  from  the  heart,  toward  a  new 
man  and  an  equal. 

There  is  always  something  of  latent  repining,  approaching 
to  resentment,  mingled  with  that  respect  which  is  exacted  from 
us  by  rank ;  and  we  feel  a  secret  gratification  in  seeing  it  hum 
bled.  In  the  same  proportion,  we  love  the  man  who  has  given 
us  this  gratification,  and  avenged,  as  it  were,  our  own  past  in 
dignities.  Such  was  precisely  the  state  of  feeling  which  Mr. 
Henry  produced,  on  the  present  occasion.  The  lower  ranks 
of  the  house  beheld  and  heard  him  with  gratitude  and  venera 
tion.  They  regarded  him  as  a  sturdy  and  wide-spreading  oak, 
beneath  whose  cool  and  refreshing  shade  they  might  take  ref 
uge  from  those  beams  of  aristocracy  that  had  played  upon  them 
so  long,  with  rather  an  unpleasant  heat. 

After  this  victorious  sally  upon  their  party,  the  former  lead 
ers  of  the  house  were  not  very  well-disposed  to  look  with  a  fa 
vourable  eye  on  any  proposition  which  he  should  make.  They 
had  less  idea  of  contributing  to  foster  the  popularity  and  pam 
per  the  power  of  a  man,  who  seemed  born  to  be  their  scourge, 
and  to  drag  down  their  ancient  honours  to  the  dust.  It  was  in 
this  unpropitious  state  of  things,  after  having  waited  in  vain  for 
some  step  to  be  taken  on  the  other  side  of  the  house,  and 
when  the  session  was  within  three  days  of  its  expected  close, 
that  Mr.  Henry  introduced  his  celebrated  resolutions  on  the 
stamp-act. 

I  will  not  withhold  from  the  reader  a  note  of  this  transaction 
from  the  pen  of  Mr.  Henry  himself.  It  is  a  curiosity,  and  high 
ly  worthy  of  preservation.  After  his  death,  there  was  found 
among  his  papers  one  sealed,  and  thus  endorsed:  u Enclosed 
are  the  resolutions  of  the  Virginia  assembly  in  seventeen  hun 
dred  and  sixty-five,  concerning  the  stamp-act.  Let  iny  execu- 


PATRICK    HENRY.  49 

tors  open  this  paper."     Within  was  found  the  following  copy 
of  the  resolutions,  in  Mr.  Henry's  handwriting : — 

"  Resolved,  That  the  first  adventurers  and  settlers  of  this, 
his  majesty's  colony  and  dominion,  brought  with  them,  and 
transmitted  to  their  posterity,  and  all  other  his  majesty's  sub 
jects,  since  inhabiting  in  this,  his  majesty's  said  colony,  all  the 
privileges,  franchises,  and  immunities,  that  have  at  any  time 
been  held,  enjoyed,  and  possessed  by  the  people  of  Great 
Britain. 

"  Resolved,  That  by  two  royal  charters,  granted  by  King 
James  the  first,  the  colonists,  aforesaid,  are  declared  entitled  to 
all  the  privileges,  liberties,  and  immunities  of  denizens  and  nat 
ural-born  subjects,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  as  if  they  had 
been  abiding  and  born  within  the  realm  of  England. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  taxation  of  the  people  by  themselves, 
or  by  persons  chosen  by  themselves  to  represent  them,  who 
can  only  know  what  taxes  the  people  are  able  to  bear,  and  the 
easiest  mode  of  raising  them,  and  are  equally  affected  by  such 
taxes  themselves,  is  the  distinguishing  characteristic  of  British 
freedom,  and  without  which  the  ancient  constitution  cannot 
subsist. 

"  Resolved,  That  his  majesty's  liege  people  of  this  most  an 
cient  colony,  have  uninterruptedly  enjoyed  the  right  of  being 
thus  governed  by  their  own  assembly,  in  the  article  of  their 
taxes  and  internal  police,  and  that  the  same  hath  never  been 
forfeited,  or  any  other  way  given  up,  but  hath  been  constantly 
recognised  by  the  king  and  people  of  Great  Britain. 

"Resolved,  therefore,  That  the  general  assembly  of  this  col 
ony  have  the  sole  right  and  power  to  lay  taxes  and  impositions 
upon  the  inhabitants  of  this  colony  ;  and  that  every  attempt  to 
vest  such  power  in  any  person  or  persons  whatsoever,  other 
than  the  general  assembly  aforesaid,  has  a  manifest  tendency 
to  destroy  British  as  well  as  American  freedom." 

On  the  back  of  the  paper  containing  those  resolutions,  is  the 
ibllowing  endorsement,  which  h  also  in  the  handwriting  of  Mr. 
Henry  himself :  "The  within  resolutions  passed  the  house  of 
bu.  rgesses  in  May,  seventeen  hundred  and  sixty-five.     They 
fori  Tied  the  first  opposition  to  the  stamp-act,  and  the  scheme  of 
taxi,  ig  America  by  the  British  parliament.     All  the  colonies, 
eithe  r  through  fear,  or  want  of  opportunity  to  form  an  opposi 
tion,    or  from  influence  of  some  kind  or  other,  had  remained  si 
lent.       I  had  been  for  the  first  time  elected  a  burgess,  a  few 
days    before,  was  young,  inexperienced,  unacquainted  with  the 
form    s  of  the  house,  and  the  members  that  composed  it.     Find 
ing  t    he  men  of  weight  averse  to  opposition,  and  the  commence 
ment      of  the  tax  at  hand,  and  that  no  person  was  likely  to  step 

5 


50  WIRT'S  LIFE  or 

forth,  I  determined  to  venture,  and  alone,  unadvised,  and  unas 
sisted,  on  a  blank  leaf  of  an  old  law-book*  wrote  the  within. 

"  Upon  offering  them  to  the  house,  violent  debates  ensued, 
Many  threats  were  uttered,  and  much  abuse  cast  on  me,  by  the 
party  for  submission.  After  a  long  and  warm  contest,  the  res 
olutions  passed  by  a  very  small  majority,  perhaps  of  one  or  two 
only.  The  alarm  spread  throughout  America  with  astonishing 
quickness,  and  the  ministerial  party  were  overvvhelmned.  The 
great  point  of  resistance  to  British  taxation  was  universally 
established  in  the  colonies.  This  brought  on  the  war,  which 
finally  separated  the  two  countries,  and  gave  independence  to 
ours.  Whether  this  will  prove  a  blessing  or  a  curse  will  de 
pend  upon  the  use  our  people  make  of  the  blessings  which  a 
gracious  God  hath  bestowed  on  us.  If  they  are  wise,  they  will 
be  great  and  happy.  If  they  are  of  a  contrary  character,  they 
will  be  miserable.  Righteousness  alone  can  exalt  them  as  a 
nation. 

"  Reader  !  whoever  thou  art,  remember  this  ;  and  in  thy 
sphere,  practise  virtue  thyself,  and  encourage  it  in  others. — 
P.  HENRY." 

Such  is  the  short,  plain,  and  modest  account  which  Mr. 
Henry  has  left  of  this  transaction.  But  other  interesting  par 
ticulars  have  been  handed  down  by  tradition,  and  live  still  in 
the  recollection  of  one,  at  least,  now  in  life,  as  the  reader  will 
presently  see  by  his  own  statement. 

The  resolutions  having  been  prepared  in  the  manner  which 
has  been  mentioned,  were  shown  by  Mr.  Henry  to  two  mem 
bers  only,  before  they  were  offered  to  the  house ;  these  were 
John  Fleming,  a  most  respectable  member  for  the  county  of 
Cumberland,  and  George  Johnston,  for  that  of  Fairfax.f 

The  reader  will  remark  that  the  first  four  resolutions,  as  left 
by  Mr.  Henry,  do  little  more  than  reaffirm  the  principles  ad 
vanced  in  the  address,  memorial,  and  remonstrance  of  the 
preceding  year ;  that  is,  they  deny  the  right  assumed  by  the 

*  Judge  Tyler  says  "  an  old  Coke  upon  Littleton." 

t  Judge  Winston,  on  the  authority  of  Mr.  Henry  himself.  The  report  -of 
the  day,  that  Mr.  Johnston  drew  the  resolutions,  is  certainly  unfounded.  Wii. 
Johnston,  now  only  known  from  the  circumstance  of  his  having  seconded  Mr. 
Henry's  resolutions,  is  one  of  those  many  friends  of  liberty  who  are  slid.ing 
fast  from  the  recollection  of  their  country,  and  who  deserve  to  be  rescued  from 
oblivion,  by  a  more  particular  notice  than  it  is  in  my  power  to.  bestow  'apon 
them.  Of  Mr.  Johnston,  I  can  learn  only,  that  he  was  a  lawyer  in  the  North 
ern  Neck,  highly  respectable  in  his  profession  ;  a  scholar,  distinguished  for 
vigour  of  intellect,  cogency  of  argument,  firmness  of  character,  love  of  order, 
and  devotion  to  the  cause  of  rational  liberty— in  short,  exactly  calculated  by 
his  love  of  the  cause,  and  the  broad  and  solid  basis  of  his  understanding,  to 
uphold  the  magnificent  structure  of  Henry's  eloquence. 


PATRICK    HENRY.  51 

British  parliament,  and  assert  the  exclusive  right  of  the  col 
ony  to  tax  itself.  There  is  an  important  difference,  however, 
between  those  state  papers  and  the  resolutions,  in  the  point  of 
time  and  the  circumstances  under  which  they  were  brought 
forward,  for  the  address  and  other  state  papers  were  prepared 
before  the  stamp-act  had  passed  ;  they  do  nothing  more,  there 
fore,  than  call  in  question,  by  a  course  of  respectful  and  sub 
missive  reasoning,  the  propriety  of  exercising  the  right,  before 
it  had  been  exercised  ;  and  they  are,  moreover,  addressed  to 
the  legislature  of  Great  Britain,  by  the  way  of  prevention,  and 
in  a  strain  of  decent  remonstrance  and  argument. 

But  at  the  time  when  Mr.  Henry  offered  his  resolutions,  the 
stamp-act  had  passed  ;  and  the  resolutions  were  intended  for 
the  people  of  the  colonies.  It  will  also  be  observed,  that  the 
fifth  resolution,  as  given  by  Mr.  Henry,  contains  the  bold  as 
sertion,  that  every  attempt  to  vest  the  power  of  taxation  over 
the  colonies  in  any  person  or  persons  whatsoever,  other  than 
the  general  assembly,  had  a  manifest  tendency  to  destroy  Brit 
ish,  as  well  as  American  freedom ;  which  was  asserting,  in 
effect,  that  the  act  which  had  passed  was  an  encroachment  on 
the  rights  arid  liberties  of  the  people,  and  amounted  to  a  direct 
charge  of  tyranny  and  despotism  against  the  British  king,  lords, 
and  commons. 

It  is  not  wonderful  that  even  the  friends  of  colonial  rights, 
who  knew  the  feeble  and  defenceless  situation  of  this  country, 
should  be  startled  at  a  step  so  bold  and  daring.  That  effect 
was  produced  ;  and  the  resolutions  were  resisted,  not  only  by 
the  aristocracy  of  the  house,  but  by  many  of  those  who  were 
afterward  distinguished  among  the  brightest  champions  of 
American  liberty. 

The  following  is  Mr.  Jefferson's  account  of  this  transaction  : 
"  Mr.  Henry  moved  and  Mr.  Johnston  seconded  these  reso 
lutions  successively.  They  were  opposed  by  Messrs.  Ran 
dolph,  Bland,  Pendleton,  Wythe,  and  all  the  old  members, 
whose  influence  in  the  house  had,  till  then,  been  unbroken. 
They  did  it,  not  from  any  question  of  our  rights,  but  on  the 
ground  that  the  same  sentiments  had  been,  at  their  preceding 
session,  expressed  in  a  more  conciliatory  form,  to  which  the 
answers  were  not  yet  received.  But  torrents  of  sublime  elo 
quence  from  Henry,  backed  by  the  solid  reasoning  of  John 
ston,  prevailed.  The  last,  however,  and  strongest  resolution, 
was  carried  but  by  a  single  vote. 

"The  debate  on  it  was  most  bloody.  I  was  then  but  a  stu 
dent,  and  stood  at  the  door  of  communication  between  the 
house  and  the  lobby  (for  as  yet  there  was  no  gallery)  during  the 
whole  debate  and  vote ;  and  I  well  remember  that,  after  the 


52  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

numbers  on  the  division  were  told  and  declared  from  ih?  ^  .air, 
Peyton  Randolph  (the  attorney-general)  came  out  at  ;.uc  door 
where  I  was  standing,  and  said,  as  he  entered  the  lobby :  4  By 
God,  I  would  have  given  500  guineas  for  a  single  vote :'  for 
one  would  have  divided  the  house,  and  Robinson  was  in  the 
chair,  who  he  knew  would  have  negatived  the  resolution. 

"  Mr.  Henry  left  town  that  evening  ;  and  the  next  morning, 
before  the  meeting  of  the  house,  Colonel  Peter  Randolph,  then 
of  the  council,  came  to  the  hall  of  burgesses,  and  sat  at  the 
clerk's  table  till  the  house-bell  rang,  thumbing  over  the  vol 
umes  of  journals,  to  find  a  precedent  for  expunging  a  vote  of 
the  house,  which,  he  said,  had  taken  place  while  he  was  a  mem 
ber  or  clerk  of  the  house,  I  do  not  recollect  which.  I  stood  by 
him  at  the  end  of  the  table,  a  considerable  part  of  the  time, 
looking  on,  as  he  turned  over  the  leaves  ;  but  I  do  not  recollect 
whether  he  found  the  erasure.  In  the  meantime,  some  of  the 
timid  members,  who  had  voted  for  the  strongest  resolution; 
had  become  alarmed  ;  and  as  soon  as  the  house  met,  a  motion 
was  made  and  carried  to  expunge  it  from  the  journals. 

"There  being  at  that  day  but  one  printer,  and  he  entirely 
under  control  of  the  governor,  I  do  not  know  that  this  reso 
lution  ever  appeared  in  print.  I  write  this  from  memory:  but 
the  impression  made  on  me  at  the  time  was  such  as  to  fix  the 
facts  indelibly  in  my  mind.  I  suppose  the  original  journal 
was  among  those  destroyed  by  the  British,  or  its  obliterated 
face  might  be  appealed  to.  And  here  I  will  state,  that  Burk's 
statement  of  Mr.  Henry's  consenting  to  withdraw  two  resolu 
tions,  by  way  of  compromise  with  his  opponents,  is  entirely 
erroneous." 

The  manuscript  journal  of  the  day  is  not  to  be  found  ;  whether 
it  was  suppressed,  or  casually  lost,  must  remain  a  matter  of 
uncertainty ;  it  disappeared,  however,  shortly  after  the  ses 
sion,*  and  therefore  could  not  have  been  among  the  documents 
destroyed  by  the  British  during  the  revolutionary  war,  as  con 
jectured  by  Mr.  Jefferson. 

In  the  interesting  fact  of  the  erasure  of  the  fifth  resolution, 
Mr.  Jefferson  is  supported  by  the  distinct  recollection  of  Mr. 
Pfcul  Carrington,  late  a  judge  of  the  court  of  appeals  of  Vir 
ginia,  and  the  only  surviving  member,  it  is  believed,  of  the 
house  of  burgesses  of  seventeen  hundred  and  sixty-five.  The 
statement  is  also  confirmed,  if  indeed  further  confirmation  were 
necessary,  by  the  circumstance,  that  instead  of  the  five  resolu- 

*  "  The  manuscript  journal  was  missing  ten  years  before  hostilities  between 
the  two  countries ;  therefore  could  not  have  been  destroyed,  as  you  supposed 
probable." — PAUL  CARRINGTON,  senr. 


PATRICK  HENRY.  53 

tions,  sj  solemnly  recorded  by  Mr.  Henry,  as  having1  passed 
the  house,  the  journal  of  the  day  exhibits  only  the  following 
four  : — 

*'  Resolved,  That  the  first  adventurers  and  settlers  of  this 
his  majesty's  colony  and  dominion  of  Virginia,  brought  with 
them  and  transmitted  to  their  posterity,  and  all  others  his  ma 
jesty's  subjects,  since  inhabiting  in  this  his  majesty's  said  colo 
ny,  all  the  liberties,  privileges,  franchises,  and  immunities,  that 
have  at  any  time  been  held,  enjoyed,  and  possessed  by  the  peo 
ple  of  Great  Britain. 

"  Resolved,  That  by  two  royal  charters,  granted  by  King 
James  I.,  the  colonists  aforesaid  are  declared  entitled  to  all 
liberties,  privileges,  ancj  immunities  of  denizens  and  natural 
subjects  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  as  if  they  had  been  abiding 
and  born  within  the  realm  of  England. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  taxation  of  the  people,  by  themselves, 
or  by  persons  chosen  by  themselves  to  represent  them,  who 
can  only  know  what  taxes  the  people  are  able  to  bear,  or 
the  easiest  method  of  raising  them ;  and  must,  themselves, 
be  affected  by  every  tax  laid  on  the  people,  is  the  only  security 
against  a  burdensome  taxation,  and  the  distinguishing  character 
istic  of  British  freedom,  without  which  the  ancient  constitution 
cannot  exist. 

"Resolved,  That  his  majesty's  liege  people  of  this  his  most 
ancient  and  loyal  colony  have,  without  interruption,  enjoyed 
the  inestimable  right  of  being  governed  by  such  laws  re 
specting  their  internal  polity  and  taxation,  as  are  derived 
from  their  own  consent,  with  the  approbation  of  their  sover 
eign,  or  his  substitute ;  and  that  the  same  hath  never  been 
forfeited  or  yielded  up,  but  hath  been  constantly  recognised  by 
the  kings  and  people  of  Great  Britain."* 

"By  these  resolutions,"   says  Mr.  Jefferson,   "  and  his  man- 

*  Such  are  the  resolutions,  as  they  were  amended  and  passed  by  the  house, 
with  the  exception  of  that  which  was  rescinded  on  the  next  day. — Journals  ol 
seventeen  hundred  and  sixty-five,  page  150.  Several  historical  mistakes  have 
been  committed  in  relation  to  these  resolutions.  Judge  Marshall,  in  his  Life 
of  Washington,  (vol.  3d,  note  4th,  of  the  appendix,)  gives  an  erroneous  copy 
of  them,  from  the  book  called  Prior  Documents  ;  in  this,  he  is  set  right  by  me 
journals  :  he  represents  six  as  having  been  offered,  and  two  rejected  ;  his  au 
thority  for  this,  again,  is  the  Prior  Documents  :  but  he  is  contradicted  by  Mr. 
Henry,  himself,  who  represents  five  only  as  having  been  offered  and  passed, 
and  Mr.  Henry's  written  statement  accords  with  the  clear  and  strong  recollec 
tion  both  of  Mr.  Jefferson  and  Mr.  Carrincrton. 

Mr.  Burk  gives  the  same  erroneous  copy  with  Judge  Marshal*,  and  adds  to 
them  several  mistakes  of  his  own  :  he  says  the  resolutions  passed,  by  a  large 
majority,  forty  only  having  voted  agavist  them.  Mr.  Burk  did  not  know  the 
number  of  the  members,  or  he  would  have  known  that  a  vote  of  forty,  in  the 
negative,  would  not  have  left  a  large  majority  in  favour  of  the  resolutions. 
But  we  have  the  authority  of  Mr.  Henry  himself,  (as  we  have  seen,)  of  Mr. 


54  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

ner  of  supporting  them,  Mr.  Henry  took  the  lead  out  of  the 
hands  of  those  who  had,  theretofore,  guided  the  proceedings 
of  the  house  ;  that  is  to  say,  of  Pcnclleton,  Wythe,  Bland,  Ran 
dolph."  It  was,  indeed,  the  measure  which  raised  him  to  the 
zenith  of  his  glory.  He  had  never  before  had  a  subject  which 
entirely  matched  his  genius,  and  was  capable  of  drawing  out 
all  the  powers  of  his  mind.  It  was  remarked  of  him  through 
out  his  life,  that  his  talents  never  failed  to  rise  with  the  occa 
sion,  and  in  proportion  with  the  resistance  which  he  had  to 
encounter.  The  nicety  of  the  vote,  on  his  last  resolution, 
proves  that  this  was  not  a  time  to  hold  in  reserve  any  part  of 
his  forces. 

It  was,  indeed,  an  Alpine  passage,  under  circumstances  even 
more  unpropitious  than  those  of  Hannibal ;  for  he  had  not  only 
to  fight,  hand  io  hand,  the  powerful  party  who  were  already  in 
possession  of  the  heights,  but  at  the  same  instant  to  cheer  and 
animate  the  timid  band  of  followers,  that  were  trembling,  and 
fainting,  and  drawing  back  below  him.  It  \vas  an  occasion 
that  called  upon  him  to  put  forth  all  his  strength,  and  he  did 
put  it  forth,  in  such  a  manner  as  man  never  did  before. 

The  cords  of  argument  with  which  his  adversaries  frequently 
flattered  themselves  that  they  had  bound  him  fast,  became  pack 
threads  in  his  hands.  He  burst  them  with  as  much  ease  as  the 
unshorn  Samson  did  the  bands  of  the  Philistines.  He  seized 
the  pillars  of  the  temple,  shook  them  terribly,  and  seemed  to 
threaten  his  opponents  with  ruin.  It  was  an  incessant  storm 
of  lightning  and  thunder,  which  struck  them  aghast.  The  faint 
hearted  gathered  courage  from  his  countenance,  and  cowards 
became  heroes  while  they  gazed  upon  his  exploits. 

Jefferson,  and  of  Mr.  Carrington,  for  saying  that  the  resolutions  were  carried 
fay  a  majority  of  one  only,  on  what  authority  Mr.  Burk  speaks,  we  are  not  in 
formed.  His  whole  account  of  Mr.  Henry's  proposal  on  the  next  day,  to  se 
cede,  and  of  his  finally  giving  up  two  resolutions,  for  the  sake  of  unanimity,  is 
•contradicted  again  by  Mr.  Henry,  Mr.  Jefferson,  and  Mr.  Carrington  ;  there  is 
no  such  statement  in  the  papers  of  the  day,  and  the  author  does  not  conde 
scend  to  give  us  his  authority.  Mr.  Burk's  skeleton  of  Mr.  Henry's  speech, 
on  that  occasion,  is  believed  to  be  equally  apocryphal  ;  the  author  of  these 
sketches  has  not  been  able  to  procure  a  single  authentic  trace  of  that  speech, 
except  the  anecdote  presently  given  in  the  text. 

Mr.  Burk  concludes  his  account  of  this  affair  thus  :  "  Struck  with  the 
alarming  tendency  of  these  proceedings,  the  governor  suddenly  dissolved  ih^ 
assembly,"  &c. — Vol.  3d,  page  310.  In  opposition  to  this  statement,  we  are 
told  by  Mr.  Henry  himself,  that  when  he  offered  his  resolutions,  the  session 
•was  near  its  regular  close  ;  and  the  journals  prove  the  fact  to  have  been  so. 
Mr.  Henry  left  town  for  home  on  the  evening  of  the  day  on  which  his  resolu 
tions  were  adopted  ;  it  was  on  the  next  day  (consequently  in  his  absence)  that 
the  motion  to  rescind  was  made  ;  and  the  printed  journals  show  that  day  and 
the  day  following  to  have  been  occupied  with  the  usual  business  which  closes 
A  legislative  session. 


PATRICK    HENRY.  55 

It  was  in  the  midst  of  this  magnificent  debate,  while  he  was 
descanting  on  the  tyranny  of  the  obnoxious  act,  that  he  ex 
claimed  in  a  voice  of  thunder,  and  with  the  look  of  a  god  : — 
"  Cesar  had  his  Brutus — Charles  the  First,  his  Cromwell — and 
George  the  Third  " — ("  Treason,"  cried  the  speaker — "  Treason, 
treason  !"  echoed  from  every  part  of  the  house.  It  was  one  of 
those  trying  moments  which  is  decisive  of  character.  Henry 
faltered  not  for  an  instant ;  but  rising  to  a  loftier  attitude,  and 
fixing  on  the  speaker  an  eye  of  the  most  determined  fire,  he 
finished  his  sentence  with  the  firmest  emphasis) — "may  profit 
ly  their  example.  If  this  be  treason,  make  the  most  of  it."* 

This  was  the  only  expression  of  defiance  which  escaped  him 
during  the  debate.  He  was,  throughout  life,  one  of  the  most 
perfectly  and  uniformly  decorous  speakers  that  ever  took  the 
floor  of  the  house.  He  was  respectful  even  to  humility ;  and 
the  provocation  must  be  gross  indeed  which  would  induce  him 
to  notice  it.  Yet  when  he  did  notice  it,  better  were  it  for  the 
man  never  to  have  been  born,  than  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  such 
an  adversary.  One  lash  from  his  scourge  was  infamy  for  life  ; 
his  look  of  anger  or  contempt  was  almost  death. 

After  this  debate,  there  was  no  longer  a  question  among  the 
body  of  the  people,  as  to  Mr.  Henry's  being  the  first  statesman 
and  orator  in  Virginia.  Those,  indeed,  whose  ranks  he  had 
scattered,  and  whom  he  had  thrown  into  the  shade,  still  tried 
to  brand  him  with  the  names  of  declaimer  and  demagogue. 
But  this  was  obviously  the  effect  of  envy  and  mortified  pride. 
A  mere  declaimer  and  demagogue  could  never  have  gained, 
much  less  have  kept  for  more  than  thirty  years,  that  ground 
which  Mr.  Henry  held ;  with  a  people,  too,  so  cool,  judicious, 
firm,  and  virtuous,  as  those  who  achieved  the  American  revo 
lution. 

From  the  period  of  which  we  have  been  speaking,  Mr.  Hen 
ry  became  the  idol  of  the  people  of  Virginia  ;  nor  was  his  name 
confined  to  his  native  state.  His  light  and  heat  were  seen  and 
felt  throughout  the  continent:  and  he  was  everywhere  regard 
ed  as  the  great  champion  of  colonial  liberty. 

The  impulse  thus  given  by  Virginia,  was  caught  by  the  other 
colonies.  Her  resolutions  were  everywhere  adopted  with  pro 
gressive  variations.  The  spirit  of  resistance  became  bolder 

*  I  had  frequently  heard  the  above  anecdote  of  the  cry  of  treason,  but  with 
such  variations  of  the  concluding  words,  that  I  began  to  doubt  whether  the 
•whole  might  not  be  fiction.  With  a  view  to  ascertain  the  truth,  therefore,  I 
submitted  it  to  Mr.  Jefferson,  as  it  had  been  given  to  me  by  Judge  Tyler,  and 
this  is  his  answer  :  "I  well  remember  the  cry  of  treason,  the  pause  of  Mr. 
Henry  at  the  name  of  George  III.,  and  the  presence  of  mind  with  which  he 
closed  his  sentence,  ajid  baffled  the  charge  vociferated."  The  incident,  there 


56  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

and  bolder,  until  the  whole  continent  was  in  a  flame ;  and  by 
the  first  of  November,  when  the  stamp  act  was,  according  to 
vts  provisions,  to  have  taken  effect,  its  execution  had  become  ut 
terly  impracticable."* 


CHAPTER  III. 

Repeal  of  the  Stamp- Act — Session  of  1766— Mr.  Henry's  Character  as  a 
Lawyer — Anecdote  of  Major  Scott — State  of  Feeling  in  the  British  Parlia 
ment — Remonstrance  of  the  Massachusetts  Legislature — Obnoxious  Charac 
ter  of  the  Soldiery  stationed  in  America— Collision  of  the  People  in  New 
York  with  the  Troops — Farther  Encroachments  of  Parliament — Opposition 
of  Massachusetts  to  the  new  Duties — Dissolution  of  the  Colonial  Legisla 
tures — Appointment  of  Corresponding  Committees — Notice  of  Mr.  Carr — 
Sketch  of  the  Virginia  Legislature  of  1773 — Mr.  Henry's  Views  on  the- 
Issue  of  the  Contest  with  Great  Britain — Dissolution  of  the  House  of  Bur 
gesses — Subsequent  Proceedings — Delegates  appointed — Mr.  Henry  appoint* 
ed  a  Deputy  to  a  Congress  of  the  Colonies.— The  Congress  meets  at  Phil 
adelphia. 

AT  the  opening  of  the  next  session,  the  speaker  announced 
the  repeal  of  the  stamp-act;  and  the  house  of  burgesses,  in  a 
paroxysm  of  feeling,  voted  a  statue  to  the  king,  and  an  obelisk 
to  the  British  patriots  by  whose  exertions  the  repeal  had  been 
eiFected.  But  before  these  monuments  of  national  gratitude 
could  be  executed  the  effervescence  subsided  ;  and  on  the  ninth 
of  December,  seventeen  hundred  and  sixty-six,  the  bill  which 
had  been  prepared  for  that  purpose,  was  postponed  to  the  first 
day  of  the  next  session  ;  after  which,  we  hear  of  it  no  more. 

At  the  session  of  seventeen  hundred  and  sixty-six,  a  question 
of  great  interest  in  those  days,  and  one  of  real  importance  to 
the  colony,  came  on  to  be  discussed  in  the  house  of  burgesses. 
Mr.  Robinson,  who  had  so  long  held  the  joint  offices  of  speak 
er  and  treasurer,  was  now  dead.  The  general  fact  of  his  de 
linquency  as  treasurer  was  understood,  although  the  sum  was 
not  yet  ascertained ;  and  that  delinquency,  whatever  it  might 
be,  was  alleged  to  have  arisen  principally  from  loans  made  to 

*  The  chronicles  of  the  day  exhibit,  in  a  manner  very  curious  and  interest 
ing,  the  progress  of  these  feelings.  We  have  already  given  a  specimen  of  the 
drooping  spirit  of  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette,  on  the  first  annunciation  of  the 
stamp-act  ;  but  after  Mr.  Henry  had  touched  with  his  match  the  train  of 
American  courage,  its  scintillations  were  seen,  sparkling  and  flashing,  on  every 
page  of  this  paper.  Thus,  in  the  paper  of  June  twentieth,  seventeen  hun 
dred  and  seventy-five  :  "We  learn  from  the  northward,  that  the  stamp-act 
is  to  take  effect  in  America  on  All  Saints'  day,  the  first  of  November  next. 
In  the  year  seventeen  hundred  and  fifty-five,  on  the  first  of  November,  hap 
pened  that  dreadful  and  memorable  earthquake  which  destroyed  the  city  of 
Lisbon.*1 


PATRICK    HENRY.  57 

members  of  the  house  of  burgesses.  As  the  speaker,  although 
elected  in  the  first  instance  by  the  house,  could  not  act  until 
approved  by  the  governor,  and,  when  so  approved,  was  in  office 
for  seven  years,  re-eligible  indefinitely — and,  as  in  the  recent 
instance  of  Mr.  Robinson,  it  had  been  discovered,  that  an  office 
so  held  was  too  apt  to  generate  a  devotion  to  the  purposes  of 
the  British  court — it  was  considered  by  the  patriots  in  the 
house,  as  a  measure  of  sound  policy,  to  take  out  of  the  hands 
of  the  speaker  so  formidable  an  engine  of  corruption  arid  pow 
er  as  the  treasury  of  the  colony.* 

A  motion  was  therefore  made  to  separate  the  office  of  treas 
urer  from  the  speaker's  chair,  which  was  supported  by  Mr. 
Henry  with  his  usual  ability.  An  arduous  struggle  ensued. 
Innovations,  however  correct  in  themselves,  never  fail  to  star 
tle  those  who  have  grown  gray  in  a  veneration  for  the  existing 
order  of  things.  They  fancy  that  they  see  in  every  important 
change  an  indirect  blow  at  the  established  government,  and  at 
the  foundations  of  their  own  property.  This  union  of  the 
speaker's  chair  with  the  office  of  treasurer,  was  one  of  those 
errors  in  policy  which  time  had  consecrated,  and  it  required  a 
hand  both  steady  and  skilful  to  remove  the  veil  and  expose  its 
deformity.  That  hand  was  furnished  by  Mr.  Henry. 

The  union  of  boldness  and  decency  which  composed  his  char 
acter,  of  decisive  energy  in  the  support  of  his  own  opinions, 
and  respectful  tenderness  toward  those  of  others,  fitted  him  pe 
culiarly  for  the  discharge  of  this  duty.  The  house  admired,  on 
this  occasion,  the  facility  with  which  he  could  adapt  himself 
to  any  subject.  He  had  that  foundation  of  strong  natural  sense, 
without  which  genius  is  a  misfortune  ;  an  instinctive  accuracy 
of  judgment,  which  always  proportioned  his  efforts  to  the  occa 
sion.  He  was  never  guilty  of  the  ridiculous  and  common  error 
among  young  members,  of  attempting  to  force  the  subject  be 
yond  its  nature — of  swelling  trifles  into  consequence,  and  work 
ing  the  ocean  into  tempest, 

"  To  waft  a  feather,  or  to  drown  a  fly." 

It  is  almost  superfluous  to  add,  that  such  a  cause,  in  the  hands 
of  such  an  advocate,  did  not  fail  of  success.  The  motion  for 
separating  the  two  offices  being  carried,  a  committee  was  ap- 

*  A  correspondent  furnishes  the  following  note  on  this  passage  :  "  There 
was  but  one  clear  and  sound  bottom  on  which  the  separation  6f  the  chair  and 
the  treasury  was  decided.  The  legislature  made  all  the  levies  of  money  pay 
able  into  the  hands  of  their  speaker,  over  whom  they  had  control.  The  only 
hold  the  governor  had  on  him  was,  a  negative  on  his  appointment  as  speaker 
at  every  new  election,  wrhich  amounted,  consequently,  to  a  negative  on  him  as 
treasurer,  and  disposed  him,  so  far,  to  be  obsequious  to  the  governor." 


58  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

pointed  to  examine  the  accounts  of  the  late  treasurer,  and  their 
report  disclosed  an  enormous  deficit,  exceeding  a  hundred  thou 
sand  pounds. 

On  the  separation  of  the  offices  of  speaker,  and  treasurer, 
Peyton  Randolph,  the  attorney-general,  was  elected  to  the 
chair  ;  and  Robert  C.  Nicholas,  an  eminent  lawyer  and  a  most 
virtuous  man,  to  the  office  of  treasurer. 

After  having  tried  his  strength  for  several  years  on  the  legis 
lative  floor,  against  some  of  the  brightest  champions  of  the  bar, 
Mr.  Henry  came,  in  the  year  seventeen  hundred  and  sixty-nine, 
to  the  bar  itself  of  the  general  court.  "  The  profits  of  his  prac 
tice,  theretofore,"  says  my  informant,  Judge  Winston,  "  must 
have  been  very  moderate.  For  about  this  time,  he  informed 
me  that  he  thought  his  property  was  not  worth  more  than  fif 
teen  hundred  pounds  ;  adding,  that  if  he  could  only  make  it 
double  that  sum,  he  should  be  entirely  content." 

At  this  bar,  he  entered  into  competition  with  all  the  first  legal 
characters  in  the  colony,  some  of  whom  had  been  educated  at 
the  Temple.  Mr.  Pendleton  and  Mr.  Wythe  have  been  already 
mentioned:  but,  in  addition  to  these,  he  had  to  encounter  Mr. 
John  Randolph,  Mr.  Thompson  Mason,  Mr.  Robert  C.  Nicho 
las,  Mr.  Mercer,  Mr.  Blair,  and  Mr.  Jefferson ;  all  of  them 
masters  of  the  learning  of  their  profession,  and  all  of  them  men 
of  pre-eminent  abilities. 

It  cannot  be  expected  from  Mr.  Henry's  legal  preparation, 
that  he  was  able  to  contend  with  these  gentlemen  on  a  mere 
question  of  law.  He  wanted  that  learning  whose  place  no 
splendour  of  genius  can  supply  to  the  lawyer  ;  and  he  wanted 
those  habits  of  steady  and  persevering  application,  without 
which  that  learning  is  not  to  be  acquired.  It  is  said,  indeed, 
that  he  was  wofully  deficient  as  a  lawyer  ;  so  little  acquainted 
with  the  fundamental  principles  of  his  profession,  and* so  little 
skilled  in  that  system  of  artificial  reasoning  on  which  the  com 
mon  law  is  built,  as  not  to  be  able  to  see  the  remote  bearings 
of  the  reported  cases  ;  and  hence,  it  has  been  said,  that  it  hap 
pened  with  him  not  (infrequently,  whenever  he  did  attempt  to 
argue  a  question  of  law,  to  furnish  authorities  destructive  to  his 
own  cause. 

Yet  he  never  did  and  never  could  vanquish  his  aversion  to 
the  systematic  study  of  the  law.  On  questions  turning  on  the 
laws  of  nations,  and  even  on  the  maritime  law,  whose  basis  is 
natural  reason  and  justice,  his  vigour  of  mind  made  him  occa 
sionally  very  great.  One  of  my  correspondents,  for  example, 
relates  to  me  an  instance  of  his  appearing  in  the  court  of  admi 
ralty,  under  the  regal  government,  in  behalf  of  a  Spanish  cap 
tain,  whose  vessel  and  cargo  had  been  libelled.  A  gentleman 


PATRICK    HENRY.  59 

who  was  present,  and  who  was  very  well  qualified  to  judge, 
was  heard  to  declare,  after  the  trial  was  over,  that  he  never 
heard  a  more  eloquent  or  argumentative  speech  in  his  life;  that 
Mr.  Henry  was  on  that  occasion  greatly  superior  to  Mr.  Pen- 
dleton,  Mr.  Mason,  or  any  other  counsel  who  spoke  to  the  sub 
ject  :  and  that  he  was  astonished  how  Mr.  Henry  could  have 
acquired  such  a  knowledge  of  the  maritime  law,  to  which,  it 
was  believed,  he  had  never  before  turned  his  attention. 
X  But  this  special  preparation  on  a  given  subject,  and  that  sub 
ject,  too,  depending  on  the  liberal  and  equitable  principles  of 
the  maritime  law,  is  not  at  all  at  variance  with  the  report  of 
his  inefficiency,  on  questions  to  be  decided  by  the  common  law 
merely.  The  power  of  arguing  questions,  of  the  latter  descrip 
tion  to  advantage,  requires  the  mind,  in  the  first  place,  to  be 
deeply  imbued  with  that  peculiar  spirit  of  reasoning  which 
reigns  throughout  the  whole  system  of  the  common  law  ;  and, 
in  the  next,  it  requires  a  cool  and  clear  accuracy  of  thinking, 
and  an  elaborate  exactness  and  nicety  in  the  deduction  of 
thought,  to  which  Mr.  Henry's  early  and  inveterate  habits  of 
indolence,  as  well  as  the  sublime  and  excursive  fervour  of  his 
genius,  were  altogether  hostile. 

It  was  on  questions  before  a  jury,  that  he  was  in  his  natural 
element.  There,  his  intimate  knowledge  of  human  nature,  and 
the  rapidity  as  well  as  justness  of  his  inferences,  from  the  flit 
ting  expressions  of  the  countenance,  as  to  what  was  passing  in 
the  hearts  of  his  hearers,  availed  him  fully.  The  jury  might  be 
•composed  of  entire  strangers,  yet  he  rarely  failed  to  know  them, 
man  by  man,  before  the  evidence  was  closed.  There  was  no 
studied  fixture  of  features  that  could  long  hide  the  charac 
ter  from  his  piercing  and  experienced  view.  The  slightest  un 
guarded  turn  of  countenance,  or  motion  of  the  eye,  let  him  at 
once  into  the  soul  of  the  man  whom  he  was  observing. 

Or,  if  he  doubted  whether  his  conclusions  were  correct,  from 
the  exhibitions  of  countenance  during  the  narration  of  the  evi 
dence,  he  had  a  mode  of  playing  a  prelude,  as  it  were,  upon 
the  jury,  in  his  exordium,  which  never  failed  to  "  wake  into 
life  each  silent  string,"  and  show  him  the  whole  compass  as 
well  as  pitch  of  the  instrument ;  and,  indeed,  (if  we  may  be 
lieve  all  the  concurrent  accounts  of  his  exhibitions  in  the  general 
court,)  the  most  exquisite  performer  that  ever  "  swept  the 
sounding  lyre"  had  not  more  a  sovereign  mastery  over  its  pow 
ers,  than  Mr.  Henry  had  over  the  springs  of  feeling  and  thought 
that  belong  to  a  jury.  There  was  a  delicacy,  a  taste,  a  felicity 
in  his  touch,  that  was  perfectly  original,  and  without  a  rival. 

His  style  of  address,  on  -these  occasions,  is  said  to  have  re 
sembled  very  much  that  of  the  scriptures.  It  was  strongly 


60  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

marked  with  the  same  simplicity,  the  same  energy,  the  same 
pathos.  He  sounded  no  alarm  ;  he  made  no  parade,  to  put  the 
jury  on  their  guard.  It  was  all  so  natural,  so  humble,  so  un 
assuming,  that  they  were  carried  imperfectly  along,  and  attuned 
to  his  purpose,  until  some  master-touch  dissolved  them  into 
tears.  His  language  of  passion  was  perfect.  There  was  no 
word  "  of  learned  length  or  thundering  sound,"  to  break  the 
charm.  It  had  almost  all  the  stillness  of  solitary  thinking.  It 
was  a  sweet  revery,  a  delicious  trance. 

His  voice,  too,  had  a  wonderful  effect.  He  had  a  singular 
power  of  infusing  it  into  a  jury,  and  mixing  its  notes  with  their 
nerves,  in  a  manner  which  it  is  impossible  to  describe  justly ; 
but  which  produced  a  thrilling  excitement,  in  the  happiest  con 
cordance  with  his  designs.  No  man  knew  so  well  as  he  did 
what  kind  of  topics  to  urge  to  their  understandings ;  nor  what 
kind  of  simple  imagery  to  present  to  their  hearts.  His  eye, 
which  he  kept  riveted  upon  them,  assisted  the  process  of  fas 
cination,  and  at  the  same  time  informed  him  what  theme  to 
press,  or  at  what  instant  to  retreat,  if  by  rare  accident  he  touch 
ed  an  unpropitious  string.  And  then  he  had  such  an  exuber 
ance  of  appropriate  thoughts,  of  apt  illustrations,  of  apposite 
images,  and  such  a  melodious  and  varied  roll  of  the  happiest 
words,  that  the  hearer  was  never  wearied  by  repetition,  and 
never  winced  from  an  apprehension  that  the  intellectual  treas 
ures  of  the  speaker  would  he  exhausted.* 

The  defence  of  criminal  causes  was  his  great  professional 
forte.  It  seems  that  the  eighth  day  of  the  general  court  was 
formerly  set  apart  for  criminal  business.  Mr.  Henry  made 

*  A  striking  example  of  this  witchery  of  his  eloquence,  even  on  common 
subjects,  was  related  by  a  very  respectable  gentleman,  the  late  Major  Joseph 
Scott,  the  marshal  of  this  state.  This  gentleman  had  been  summoned,  at 
great  inconvenience  to  his  private  affairs,  to  attend  as  a  witness  a  distant  court, 
in  which  Mr.  Henry  practised.  The  cause  which  had  carried  him  thither  hav 
ing  been  disposed  of,  he  was  setting  out  in  great  haste  to  return,  when  the 
sheriff  summoned  him  to  serve  on  a  jury.  This  cause  was  represented  as  a 
complicated  and  important  one  ;  so  important  as  to  have  enlisted  in  it  all  the 
most  eminent  members  of  the  bar. 

He  was  therefore  alarmed  at  the  prospect  of  a  long  detention,  and  made  an 
unavailing  effort  with  the  court  to  get  himself  discharged  from  the  jury.  He 
was  compelled  to  take  his  seat.  When  his  patience  had  been  nearly  exhaust 
ed  by  the  previous  speakers,  Mr.  Henry  rose  to  conclude  the  cause,  and  having 
much  matter  to  answer,  the  major  stated  that  he  considered  himself  a  prisoner 
for  the  evening,  if  not  for  the  night.  But,  to  his  surprise,  Mr.  Henry  appear 
ed  to  have  consumed  not  more  than  fifteen  minutes  in  the  reply ;  and  he 
would  scarcely  believe  his  own  watch,  or  those  of  the  other  jurymen,  when, 
they  informed  him  that  he  had  in  reality  been  speaking  upward  of  two  hours. 
So  powerful  was  the  charm  by  which  he  could  bind  the  senses  of  his  hearers, 
and  make  even  the  most  impatient  unconscious  of  the  lapse  of  time. 


PATRICK    HENRY.  61 

little  or  no  figure  during  the  civil  days  of  the  court;  but  on 
the  eighth  day  he  was  the  monarch  of  the  bar.  These  causes 
brought  him  into  direct  collision  with  Mr.  John  Randolph,  who 
had  now  succeeded  Peyton  as  the  attorney-general. 

Mr.  Randolph,  it  has  been  remarked,  was,  in  person  and 
manners  among  the  most  elegant  gentlemen  in  the  colony,  and 
in  his  profession  one  of  the  most  splendid  ornaments  of  the  bar. 
He  was  a  polite  scholar,  as  well  as  a  profound  lawyer,  and  his 
eloquence  also  was  of  a  high  order.  His  voice,  action,  style, 
were  stately,  and  uncommonly  impressive  ;  but  gigantic  as  he 
was  in  relation  to  other  men,  he  was  but  a  pigmy,  when  op 
posed  in  a  criminal  trial  to  the  arch  magician,  Henry.  In 
those  cases  Mr.  Henry  wras  perfectly  irresistible.  He  adapted 
himself,  without  effort,  to  the  character  of  the  cause :  seized 
with  the  quickness  of  intuition,  its  defensible  point,  and  never 
permitted  the  jury  to  lose  sight  of  it. 

Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  has  said  of  Titian,  that,  by  a  few 
strokes  of  his  pencil,  he  knew  how  to  mark  the  image  and 
character  of  whatever  object  he  attempted  ;  and  produced  by 
this  means  a  truer  representation  than  any  of  his  predecessors, 
who  finished  every  hair.  In  like  manner,  Mr.  Henry,  by  a  few 
master-strokes  upon  the  evidence,  could  in  general  stamp  upon 
the  cause  whatever  image  or  character  he  pleased ;  and  con 
vert  it  into  tragedy  or  comedy,  at  his  sovereign  will,  and  with 
a  power  which  no  efforts  of  his  adversary  could  counteract. 

He  never  wearied  the  jury  by  a  dry  and  minute  analysis  of 
the  evidence ;  he  did  not  expend  his  strength  in  finishing  the 
hairs;  he  produced  all  his  high  effect  by  those  rare  master- 
touches,  and  by  the  resistless  skill  with  which,  in  a  very  few 
words,  he  could  mould  and  colour  the  prominent  facts  of  a 
cause  to  his  purpose.  He  had  wonderful  address,  too,  in  lead 
ing  off  the  minds  of  his  hearers  from  the  contemplation  of  un 
favourable  points,  if  at  any  time  they  were  too  stubborn  to 
yield  to  his  power  of  transformation.  He  beguiled  the  hearer 
so  far  from  them,  as  to  diminish  them  by  distance,  and  soften, 
if  not  entirely  cast  into  shade,  their  too  strong  natural  colours. 
At  this  distance,  too,  he  had  a  better  opportunity  of  throwing 
upon  them  a  false  light,  by  an  apparently  casual  ray  of  refraction 
from  other  points  in  the  evidence,  whose  powers  no  man  bet 
ter  knew  how  to  array  and  concentrate,  in  order  to  disguise  or 
eclipse  an  obnoxious  fact. 

It  required  a  mind  of  uncommon  vigilance,  and  most  intracta 
ble  temper,  to  resist  this  charm  with  which  he  decoyed  away 
his  hearers ;  it  demanded  a  rapidity  of  penetration  which  is 
rarely,  if  ever,  to  be  found  in  the  jury-box,  to  detect  the  intel 
lectual  juggle  by  which  he  spread  his  nets  around  them;  it 

6 


62  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

called  for  a  stubbornness  and  obduracy  of  soul  which  do 
not  exist,  to  sit  unmoved  under  the  pictures  of  horror,  or  of 
pity  which  started  from  his  canvass. 

They  might  resolve,  if  they  pleased,  to  decide  the  cause 
against  him,  and  to  disregard  everything  which  he  could  urge 
in  the  defence  of  his  client.  But  it  was  all  in  vain.  Some 
feint,  in  an  unexpected  direction,  threw  them  off  their  guard, 
and  they  were  gone  ;  some  happy  phrase,  burning  from  the 
soul ;  some  image  fresh  from  Nature's  mint,  and  bearing  her 
own  beautiful  arid  genuine  impress,  struck  them  with  delight 
ful  surprise,  and  melted  them  into  conciliation;  and  concilia 
tion  toward  Mr.  Henry,  was  victory  inevitable.  In  short,  he 
understood  the  human  character  so  perfectly  ;  knew  so  well 
all  its  strength  and  all  its  weaknesses,  together  with  every  path 
and  by-way  which  winds  around  to  the  citadel  of  the  best  forti 
fied  heart  and  mind,  that  he  never  failed  to  take  them,  either 
by  stratagem  or  storm.  Hence  he  was,  beyond  doubt,  the 
ablest  defender  of  criminals  in  Virginia,  and  will  probably  never 
be  equalled  again. 

It  has  been  observed,  that  Mr.  Henry's  knowledge  of  the 
common  law  was  extremely  defective  ;  but  his  attendance  upon 
the  general  court  was  calculated  to  cure  that  defect,  in  a  con 
siderable  degree.  All  legal  questions  of  magnitude  or  diffi 
culty  came  before  that  tribunal,  either  originally  or  by  appeal; 
and  he  had  continual  opportunities  of  hearing  them  discussed 
in  the  ablest  manner,  by  the  brightest  luminaries  of  the  Ameri 
can  bar. 

His  was  a  mind  on  which  nothing  was  lost ;  on  which  no 
useful  seed  could  be  cast  without  shooting  into  all  the  luxuri 
ance  of  which  its  nature  was  susceptible.  Thus  improving 
every  hint,  and  ramifying  every  principle  which  was  brought 
into  his  view,  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  a  few  years  must 
have  made  him  not  only  a  master  of  the  general  canons  of 
property,  but  of  the  modifications  and  exceptions  of  more  fre 
quent  occurrence,  by  which  those  canons  are  restrained  and 
governed. 

In  support  of  this  conclusion,  I  find  that  in  January,  seven 
teen  hundred  arid  seventy-three,  Robert  C.  Nicholas,  who  had 
enjoyed  the  first  practice  at  the  bar,  and  who,  by  virtue  of  his 
office  of  treasurer,  was  forced  to  relinquish  that  practice,  com 
mitted,  by  a  public  advertisement,  his  unfinished  business  to 
Mr.  Henry  ;  a  step  which  a  man  so  remarkably  scrupulous  in 
the  discharge  of  every  moral  duty  would  not  have  taken,  had 
there  been  any  incompetency  on  the  part  of  his  substitute. 

The  British  ministry,  however,  did  not  permit  Mr.  Henry  to 
waste  himself  in  forensic  exertions.  The  joy  of  the  Amer- 


PATRICK    HENRY.  63 

leans,  on  the  repeal  of  the  stamp-act,  was  very  short-lived. 
That  measure  had  not  been,  on  the  part  of  the  British  parlia 
ment,  a  voluntary  sacrifice  to  truth  and  right.  The  ministry 
and  their  friends  disavowed  this  ground ;  and  were  forward  on 
every  occasion,  to  convince  the  colonies  that  they  had  nothing 
to  expect,  either  from  the  clemency  or  the  magnanimity  of 
the  British  cabinet. 

Thus  on  a  question  of  supplies  for  the  army,  in  the  session 
of  parliament  of  seventeen  hundred  and  sixty-six  and  seven, 
a  motion  was  made  in  the  house  of  commons,  that  the  revenues 
arising  and  to  arise  in  America,  be  applied  to  subsisting  the 
troops  now  there,  and  those  other  regiments  which  it  is  pro 
posed  to  send;  in  support  of  which,  that  brilliant  political 
meteor,  Charles  Townsend,  urged,  among  other  things,  "the 
propriety  of  more  troops  being  sent  to  America,  and  of  their 
being  quartered  in  the  large  towns." 

He  said,  that  he  had  a  plan  preparing,  which  he  would  lay  be 
fore  the  house,  for  the  raising  of  supplies  in  America.  That 
the  legislative  authority  of  Great  Britain  extended  to  every  col 
ony  in  every  particular.  That  the  distinction  between  internal 
and  external  taxes  was  nonsense;  and  that  he  voted  for  the 
repeal  of  the  stamp-act,  not  because  it  was  not  a  good  act,  but 
because,  at  that  time,  there  appeared  a  propriety  in  repealing 
it.  He  added,  that  he  repeated  the  sentence,  that  the  galleries 
might  hear  him,  and  after  that,  he  did  not  expect  to  have  his 
statue  erected  in  America :  in  all  which,  Mr.  Grenville  joined 
him  fully.  This  temper  soon  manifested  itself  in  open  acts, 
and  turned  the  late  joy  of  the  colonies  into  mourning. 

The  first  obnoxious  measure  was  a  stern  demand  of  satisfac 
tion  from  the  legislatures  of  the  colonies,  for  the  injuries  which 
had  been  done  to  the  stamp-officers  and  their  adherents.  The 
legislature  of  Massachusetts,  of  whom  this  demand  was  first 
made,  very  respectfully,  and  with  good  reason,  questioned  the 
propriety  and  justice  of  taxing  the  whole  colony  for  the  ex 
cesses  of  a  few  individuals,  which  they  had  neither  prompted 
nor  approved  ;  for  the  sake  of  peace,  however,  and  in  the  spirit 
of  accommodation,  that  satisfaction  was  given ;  but  they  an 
nexed  to  their  vote  of  satisfaction  a  grant  of  pardon  to  the 
rioters;  and,  in  England,  according  to  the  usual  courtesy  of 
that  country,  nothing  was  said  of  the  satisfaction,  while  the 
pardon  was  treated  as  a  most  insolent  and  impudent  usurpation 
of  the  royal  authority. 

The  next  step  was  that  suggested  by  Mr.  Townsend,  of  quar 
tering  large  bodies  of  troops  upon  the  chief  towns  in  the  col 
onies,  and  demanding  of  the  several  colonial  legislatures  a  pro 
vision  for  their  comfortable  support  and  accommodation.  A 


64  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

measure  more  replete  with  exasperation  could  scarcely  have 
been  devised.  The  very  presence  of  those  myrmidons  was  an 
insult ;  for  it  was  a  direct  reflection  on  the  fidelity  of  the  col 
onists.  Their  object  was  perfectly  understood :  it  was  to  curb 
the  just  and  honourable  spirit  of  the  people  ;  to  dragoon  them 
into  submission  to  the  parliamentary  claim  of  taxation,  and 
reduce  them  to  the  condition  of  vassals,  governed  hy  the  right 
of  conquest.  The  rudeness  of  the  soldiery,  too,  was  well  cal 
culated  to  keep  up  and  increase  the  irritation,  which  their  pres 
ence  alone  would  have  been  sufficient  to  excite. 

In  Boston,  they  were  in  the  habit  of  stopping  the  most  re 
spectable  citizens  in  the  streets,  and  compelling  them  to  answer 
insulting  inquiries,  or  committing  them  to  confinement  on  their 
refusal,  assigning,  as  the  ground  of  their  conduct,  that  the  town 
was  a  garrisoned  town.  In  New  York,  they  provoked  a  con 
test  with  the  people,  by  making  war  upon  a  liberty-pole,  which 
was  the  first  object  of  their  earthly  devotions,  and  which  the 
soldiers  continually  destroyed  or  attempted  to  destroy,  as  soon 
as  it  could  be  replaced.  And,  as  if  all  this  insult  and  humil 
iation  were  not  enough,  the  colonies  were  to  be  constrained  to 
tax  themselves,  to  foster  and  cherish  those  instruments  of  their 
degradation. 

The  legislature  of  New  York,  in  a  tone  at  least  sufficiently 
submissive  for  the  occasion,  and  on  the  false  ground  of  the  in 
ability  of  the  colony,  begged  to  be  excused  from  making  the 
provision.  For  this  high  offence,  the  legislative  power  of  that 
colony  was  abolished  by  act  of  parliament,  until  they  should 
submit  to  make  the  provision  which  was  required  :  and  they 
did  submit. 

A  body  of  British  troops,  alleged  to  have  been  driven  by 
stress  of  weather  into  Boston,  in  the  recess  of  the  colonial 
legislature,  had  been  provided  for  out  of  the  public  moneys,  by 
the  governor  and  his  council.  The  legislature  met  shortly 
afterward,  and  remonstrated  against  this  unconstitutional  ap 
propriation,  with  that  Roman  firmness  and  dignity  which  mark 
ed  the  character  of  Massachusetts  in  every  stage  of  the  contest. 
But  Governor  Bernard,  highly  indignant  at  what  he  affected  to 
consider  as  presumption,  made  such  a  communication  upon  the 
subject  to  the  British  court,  as  could  have  had,  and  could  have 
been  designed  to  have,  no  other  effect  than  to  widen  the  breach, 
and  inflame  more  highly  those  animosities  which  already  re 
quired  no  new  aggravation. 

These  military  preparations  were  well  understood  to  be  the 
harbingers  of  some  unconstitutional  act,  the  execution  of  which 
they  were  necessary  to  enforce.  Why  those  preparations  were 
restricted  to  the  northern  states,  and  more  particularly  to  Mas- 


PATRICK    HENRY.  $5 

sachusctts,  has  never  been  satisfactorily  explained.  There 
was  no  colony  which  resisted  with  more  firmness  and  con 
stancy  the  pretensions  of  the  British  parliament  than  that  of 
Virginia ;  yet  no  military  force  was  thought  necessary,  during 
the  lives  of  the  governors  Fauquier  and  Bottetourt,  to  keep 
down  the  spirit  of  rebellion  in  this  colony. 

A  solution  of  the  difficulty  may  perhaps  be  found  in  the 
character  of  the  different  governors.  Virginia  had  the  good 
fortune,  during  this  period,  to  be  governed  by  enlightened  and 
amiable  men,  who  saw  and  did  justice  to  the  motives  and  meas 
ure  of  resistance  which  was  meditated ;  who  were  both  able 
and  willing  to  distinguish  between  reason  and  force,  between 
remonstrance  and  rebellion  ;  who  perceived  with  pleasure,  the 
spirit  of  genuine  and  unaffected  loyalty  and  affection  for  the 
parent-country,  which  mingled  itself  with  every  complaint ; 
and  who,  in  their  communications  to  the  British  court,  were 
disposed  rather  "  to  extenuate,"  than  "  to  set  down  aught  in 
malice."  Whereas  Bernard,  the  governor  of  Massachusetts, 
was  the  fit  instrument  and  apt  representative  of  the  masters 
whom  he  served :  for  he  had  all  their  pride  and  unfeeling  inso 
lence,  and  seems  to  have  enjoyed  a  kind  of  fiend-like  pleasure, 
in  rendering  his  province  hateful  at  home,  by  the  most  viru 
lent  misrepresentations;  and  in  drawing  down  upon  her  the  ac 
cumulated  curses  and  oppressions  of  the  parent-country.* 

These  preparatory  steps  having  been  taken,  an  act  of  parlia 
ment  was  passed,  imposing  certain  duties  on  glass,  white  and 
red  lead,  painters'  colours,  tea,  and  paper,  imported  into  the 
colonies.  This  act  was  to  take  effect  on  the  twentieth  of  No 
vember,  seventeen  hundred  and  sixty-seven ;  and,  to  insure  its 
operation,  another  act  authorized  the  king  to  appoint  a  board 
of  trade  to  reside  in  the  colonies,  and  to  instruct  them  at  his 
pleasure  and  without  limits,  as  to  the  mode  of  executing  their 
duties  under  this  law.  A  commission  accordingly  issued,  by 
which  the  commissioners  were  armed  with  a  power  of  search 
and  seizure,  at  their  discretion ;  with  authority  to  call  for  aid 
upon  the  naval  and  military  establishments  within  the  colony ; 
and  with  an  exemption  from  prosecution  or  responsibility  be« 

*  Extract  of  a  letter,  dated  London,  June  fifth,  seventeen  hundred  and 
seventy  :  "'The  people  of  England  now  curse  Governor  Bernard,  as  bitterly 
as  those  of  America.  Bernard  was  drove  out  of  the  Smyrna  coffee-house, 
not  many  days  since,  by  General  Oglethorpe,  who  told  him  he  was  a  dirty, 
factious  scoundrel,  and  smelled  cursed  strong  of  the  hangman ;  that  he  had 
better  leave  the  room,  as  unworthy  to  mix  with  gentlemen  of  character,  but 
that  he  would  give  him  the  satisfaction  of  following  him  to  the  door,  had  ho 
any  thing  to  reply.  The  governor  left  the  house  like  a  guilty  coward." — Penn- 
~*lvania  Gazette,  August  30th,  1770. 

6* 


66  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

fore  any  of  the  king's  courts,  for  whatsoever  they  might  do, 
by  any  construction  of  their  commission. 

Another  measure  which  gave  great  offence  to  the  colonies, 
•was  the  establishment  of  a  board  of  admiralty,  with  extensive 
powers,  supported  by  large  salaries  independent  of  the  colo 
nies,  yet  drawn  from  the  revenues  compulsorily  levied  upon 
them  ;  and  the  appointment,  also,  of  common  law  judges,  to  be 
paid  by  the  crown  out  of  the  revenues  of  the  colony,  and  to 
hold  their  offices  during  the  king's  pleasure. 

To  all  these  outrages  the  legislatures  of  the  colonies  answer 
ed  by  petitions,  memorials,  remonstrances,  and  letters,  address 
ed  to  the  friends  of  colonial  liberty  in  England  ;  blending,  with 
the  strongest  professions  of  loyalty,  the  expression  of  their 
hope,  that  those  obnoxious  measures  would  be  reconsidered 
and  reversed,  and  the  colonies  protected  in  their  ancient  and 
unalienable  rights.  In  reply,  they  received  from  the  kindest 
of  their  English  friends,  only  exhortations  to  patience  under 
their  sufferings  ;  by  the  court-party,  menaces  and  anathemas 
werebrandishedover  their  heads;  and  the  commissioners  of  the 
revenue,  together  with  their  auxiliaries,  the  naval  and  military 
officers  and  soldiery,  continued  to  outrage  and  insult  them,  both 
in  their  persons  and  property. 

The  people  of  Massachusetts,  with  the  view  of  frustrating 
the  new  revenue-bill,  entered  into  an  association,  by  which 
they  bound  themselves  not  to  import  from  Great  Britain,  or  use 
any  of  the  articles  taxed  ;  and  included  in  the  resolution  every 
article  of  British  manufacture  which  was  not  of  the  first  and 
most  indispensable  necessity.  The  legislature  of  that  state 
also  resolved  on  a  circular-letter  to  their  sister-colonies,  invi 
ting  their  concurrence  and  co-operation  toward  procuring  re 
lief,  in  a  constitutional  way,  from  the  grievances  under  which 
they  were  all  suffering. 

This  measure  having  been  reported  by  Governor  Bernard, 
with  his  usual  embellishments,  to  the  Earl  of  Hilsborough,  the 
British  minister  for  the  American  department,  that  minister  re 
quired  the  governor  to  demand  of  the  legislature  an  immediate 
rescission  of  their  resolution,  on  pain  of  their  being  forthwith 
dissolved.  They  refused  to  rescind,  and  were  dissolved  ac 
cordingly.  The  same  minister  also  addressed  a  circular-letter 
to  the  governors  of  the  other  colonies,  exhorting  them  to  crush 
this  correspondence  and  concert  among  the  colonial  legisla 
tures  in  the  bud,  by  exacting  from  them  an  assurance  that  they 
would  not  answer  the  circular  of  Massachusetts.  They  refu 
sed  to  give  such  assurance,  and  were  in  their  turn  dissolved. 

These  violent  measures,  however,  produced  an  effect  very 
different  from  that  which  was  expected  to  flow  from  them. 


PATRICK    HENRY.  67 

The  dissolution  of  their  legislatures  swelled  the  catalogue  of 
their  wrongs,  and  ministered  additional  fuel  to  the  resentments  of 
the  people.  The  non-importation  agreement  became  general ; 
nnd,  by  means  of  committees  established  in  the  several  colonies, 
its  execution  was  guarded  with  a  vigilance  which  could  not  be 
eluded.  A  breach  of  it  was  infamy,  inevitable  and  unpardona 
ble.  Its  observance  was  a  badge  of  honour,  by  which  the  pa 
triot-colonist  was  proud  to  be  distinguished. 

The  piivation  was,  indeed,  in  many  respects  severe,  but  the 
sufferers  were  upheld  by  that  kind  of  holy  fortitude  which  ena 
bled  the  Chiistian  martyrs,  to  smile  amid  the  flames  and  to 
iriumph,  even  in  the  agonies  of  death.  Every  grade  of  society, 
all  ages,  and  both  sexes,  kindled  in  this  sacred  competition  of 
patriotism.  The  ladies  of  the  colonies,  in  the  dawn,  and 
throughout  the  whole  progress  of  the  revolution,  shone  with 
pre-eminent  lustre  in  this  war  of  fortitude  and  self-denial.  They 
renounced,  without  a  sigh,  the  use  of  the  luxuries  and  even  of 
the  comforts  to  which  they  had  been  accustomed ;  and  felt  a 
nobler  pride  in  appearing  dressed  in  the  simple  productions  of 
;heir  own  looms,  than  they  had  ever  experienced  from  glitter- 
»ng  in  the  brightest  ornaments  of  the  East. 

The  British  court  looked  upon  this  trial  of  virtuous  fortitude 
tvith  surly  and  inexorable  rigour.  They  seemed  determined 
io  carry  the  point,  at  every  hazard.  The  sufferings  of  their 
•own  merchants  and  manufacturers  were  forgotten,  in  the  bar- 
oarous  pleasure  with  which  they  contemplated  the  sufferings  of 
4ie  colonists.  It  is  not  in  human  nature  to  continue  long  to 
return  good  for  evil,  affection  for  cruelty.  The  admiration  and 
devotion  of  the  colonies  for  the  parent-country  became  gradu 
ally  weaker.  This  transition  of  feeling  is  most  interestingly 
marked  in  the  chronicles  of  the  day.  The  epithets,  "our  kind 
and  indulgent  mother,"  with  which  she  was  wont  to  be  greeted, 
were  progressively  changed  into  "  unnatural  parent — cruel 
stepmother — proud,  merciless  oppressor — haughty,  unfeeling, 
and  unrelenting  tyrant." 

This  state  of  feeling  was  aggravated  by  the  collisions  which 
were  perpetually  occurring  between  the  king's  soldiery  and  the 
people  of  the  towns  in  which  they  were  quartered.  The  streets 
of  New  York  and  of  Boston  were  the  theatres  of  continual  riots, 
ending  almost  invariably  in  blood,  and  not  unfrequently  in 
death.  The  newspapers  of  the  day  teem  with  the  detail  of 
scenes  of  this  sort ;  and  from  the  effect  which  they  produce  on 
the  reader  at  this  distance  of  time,  it  is  not  very  difficult  to  con 
ceive  what  must  have  been  their  operation  on  the  people  of  that 
day,  already  goaded  to  madness  by  previous  injuries. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  to  record  the  series  of  measures  which  led 


68  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

to  the  dismemberment  of  the  British  empire.  This  is  the  func 
lion  of  the  historian.  My  business  is  only  with  Mr.  Henry; 
and,  for  my  purpose,  nothing  more  is  necessary  than  to  recall 
the  general  character  of  the  contest,  for  the  purpose  of  showing 
the  part  which  he  bore  in  it.  The  revolution  may  be  truly 
saitl  to  have  commenced  with  his  resolutions  in  seventeen  hun 
dred  and  sixty-live. 

From  that  period  not  an  hour  of  settled  peace  had  existed 
between  the  two  countries.  It  is  true,  that  the  eruption  pro 
duced  by  the  stamp-act  had  subsided  with  its  repeal ;  and  the 
people  had  resumed  their  ancient  settlements  and  occupations  ; 
but  there  was  no  peace  of  the  heart  or  of  the  mind.  The  rum 
bling  of  the  volcano  was  still  audible,  and  the  smoke  of  the  cra 
ter  continually  ascended,  mingled  not  unfrequently  with  those; 
flames  and  masses  of  ignited  matter  which  announced  a  new 
and  more  terrible  explosion. 

These  were  "  the  times  that  tried  the  souls  of  men ;"  and 
never,  in  any  country  or  in  any  age,  did  there  exist  a  race  of 
men  whose  souls  were  better  fitted  to  endure  the  trial.  Pa 
tient  in  suffering,  firm  in  adversity,  calm  and  collected  amid  the 
dangers  which  pressed  around  them,  cool  in  council,  and  brave 
in  battle,  they  were  worthy  of  the  cause,  and  the  cause  was 
worthy  of  them. 

The  house  of  burgesses  of  Virginia,  which  had  led  the  oppo 
sition  to  the  stamp-act,  kept  their  high  ground  during  the  whole 
of  the  ensuing  contest.  Mr.  Henry,  having  removed  again 
from  Louisa  to  his  native  county,  in  the  year  seventeen  hun 
dred  and  sixty-seven  or  sixty-eight,  continued  a  member  of  the 
public  councils  till  the  close  of  the  revolution  ;  and  there  could 
be  no  want  of  boldness  in  any  body  of  which  he  was  a  member. 

The  session  of  seventeen  hundred  sixty-eight  or  sixty-nine, 
was  marked  by  a  set  of  resolutions  so  strong  as  to  have  excited 
even  the  amiable  and  popular  Bottetourt  to  displeasure.  By 
those  resolutions  they  reasserted,  in  the  most  emphatic  terms, 
the  exclusive  right  of  the  colony  to  tax  themselves  in  all  cases 
whatever ;  complained  of  the  recent  acts  of  parliament,  as  so 
many  violations  of  the  British  constitution ;  and  remonstrated, 
vigorously,  against  the  right  of  transporting  the  freeborn  sub 
jects  of  these  colonies  to  England,  to  take  their  trial  before 
prejudiced  tribunals,  for  offences  alleged  to  be  committed  in 
the  colonies. 

The  tradition  with  regard  to  these  resolutions  is,  that  they 
were  agreed  to  in  a  committee  of  the  whole  on  one  day,  but 
not  reported  to  the  house,  with  the  view  of  preventing  their 
appearance  on  the  journal  of  the  next  day,  before  they  could 
be  completely  passed  through  the  forms  of  the  house ;  appre- 


PATRICK    HENRY.  69 

nending,  from  the  fate  of  the  Massachusetts  legislature,  that  a 
knowledge  of  these  resolutions,  on  the  part  of  the  governor, 
would  produce  an  immediate  dissolution  of  the  house.  When 
the  house  rose  for  the  evening,  however,  the  fact  of  their  hav 
ing  passed  such  resolutions  was  whispered  to  the  governor ; 
and  he  endeavoured  in  vain  to  procure  a  copy  of  them  from  the 
clerk,  (Mr.  Wythe.) 

On  the  next  day,  the  house,  foreseeing  the  event,  met  ou  the 
instant  of  the  ringing  of  the  hell,  and  with  closed  doors  receiv 
ed  the  report  of  their  resolutions,  considered,  adopted,  and  or 
dered  them  to  be  entered  upon  their  journals  ;  which  they  had 
scarcely  done  when  they  were  summoned  to  attend  'he  govern 
or,  and  were  dissolved.  "Mr.  Speaker,"  said  he,  "and  gen 
tlemen  of  the  house  of  representatives,  I  have  heard  of  your 
resolves,  and  augur  ill  of  their  effects ;  you  have  made  it  my 
duty  to  dissolve  you,  and  you  arc  accordingly  dissolved." 

But  the  dissolution  of  the  house  of  burgesses  did  not  change 
the  materials  of  which  it  had  been  composed.  The  same  mem 
bers  were  re-elected  without  a  single  exception,  and  the  same 
determined  spirit  of  resistance  continued  to  diffuse  itself  from 
the  legislature  over  the  colony  which  they  represented,  and  to 
animate  by  sympathy  the  neighbouring  colonies.  This  house 
had  the  merit  of  originating  that  powerful  engine  of  resistance, 
corresponding  committees  between  the  legislatures  of  the  dif* 
ferent  colonies.*  The  measure  was  brought  forward  by  Mr. 
Dabney  Carr,  a  new  member  from  the  county  of  Louisa,  in  a 
committee  of  the  whole  house,  on  the  twelfth  of  March,  seven 
teen  hundred  and  seventy-three  ;  and  the  resolutions,  as  adopt 
ed,  now  stood  upon  the  journals  of  the  day,  in  the  following 
terms  : — 

"Whereas,  the  minds  of  his  majesty's  faithful  subjects  in  this 
colony  have  been  much  disturbed  by  various  rumours  and  re 
ports  of  proceedings,  tending  to  deprive  them  of  their  ancient, 
legal,  and  constitutional  rights  ; 

"And  whereas,  the  affairs  of  this  colony  are  frequently  con 
nected  with  those  of  Great  Britain,  as  well  as  the  neighbouring 
colonies,  which  renders  a  communication  of  sentiments  neces 
sary  :  in  order,  therefore,  to  remove  the  uneasiness,  and  to 
quiet  the  minds  of  the  people,  as  well  as  for  the  other  good 
purposes  above  mentioned  : — 

*  The  state  of  Massachusetts  is  entitled  to  equal  honour  :  the  measures 
were  so  nearly  coeval  in  the  two  states,  as  to  render  it  impossible  that  either 
could  have  borrowed  it  from  the  other.  The  messengers,  who  bore  the  prop 
ositions  from  the  two  states,  are  said  to  have  crossed  each  other  on  the  way. 
This  is  Mr.  Jefferson's  account  of  it ;  and  Mrs.  Warren,  in  her  very  interest 
ing  history  of  the  revolution,  admits,  that  the  measure  was  original  on  the  part 
of  Virginia.  Sec  the  note  to  page  110  of  her  first  volume. 


70  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

41  Be  it  resolved,  That  a  standing  committee  of  correspond 
ence  and  inquiry  be  appointed,  to  consist  of  eleven  persons,  to 
wit:  the  Honourable  Peyton  Randolph,  esquire,  Robert  C. 
Nicholas,  Richard  Bland,  Richard  H.  Lee,  Benjamin  Harrison, 
Edmund  Pendlcton,  Patrick  Henry,  Dudley  Digges,  Dabney 
Carr,  Archibald  Gary,  and  Thomas  Jefferson,  esquires,  any  six 
of  whom  to  be  a  committee,  whose  business  it  shall  be  to  ob 
tain  the  most  early  and  authentic  intelligence  of  all  such  acts 
and  resolutions  of  the  British  parliament,  or  proceedings  of 
administration,  as  may  relate  to  or  affect  the  British  colonies  in 
America;  and  to  keep  up  and  maintain  a  correspondence  and 
communication  with  our  sister-colonies,  respecting  those  im 
portant  considerations  ;  and  the  result  of  such  of  their  proceed 
ings,  from  time  to  time,  to  lay  before  this  house. 

"  Resolved,  That  it  be  an  instruction  to  the  said  committee, 
that  they  do,  without  delay,  inform  themselves  particularly  of 
the  principles  and  authority  on  which  was  constituted  a  court 
of  inquiry,  said  to  have  been  lately  held  in  Rhode  Island,  with 
powers  to  transport  persons  accused  of  offences  committed  in 
America,  to  places  beyond  the  seas,  to  be  tried. 

"  The  said  resolutions  being  severally  read  a  second  time, 
were,  upon  the  question  severally  put  thereupon,  agreed  to  by 
the  house,  ncrnine  contradicente. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  speaker  of  this  house  do  transmit  to 
the  speakers  of  the  different  assemblies  of  the  British  colonies 
on  the  continent,  copies  of  the  said  resolutions,  and  desire  that 
they  will  lay  them  before  their  respective  assemblies,  and  re 
quest  them  to  appoint  some  person  or  persons  of  their  respect 
ive  bodies,  to  communicate  from  time  to  time  with  the  said 
committee." 

In  supporting  these  resolutions,  Mr.  Carr  made  his  debut, 
and  a  noble  one  it  is  said  to  have  been.  This  gentleman  by 
profession  a  lawyer,  had  recently  commenced  his  practice  at 
the  same  bars  with  Patrick  Henry ;  and  although  he  had  not 
yet  reached  the  meridian  of  life,  he  was  considered  by  far  the 
most  formidable  rival  in  forensic  eloquence  that  Mr.  Henry  had 
ever  yet  had  to  encounter.  He  had  the  advantage  of  a  person 
at  once  dignified  and  engaging,  arid  the  manner  and  action  of 
an  accomplished  gentleman. 

His  education  was  a  finished  one  ;  his  mind  trained  to  cor 
rect  thinking  ;  his  conceptions  quick,  and  clear,  and  strong ; 
he  reasoned  with  great  cogency,  and  had  an  imagination  which 
enlightened  beautifully,  without  interrupting  or  diverting  the 
course  of  his  argument.  His  voice  was  finely  toned ;  his  feel 
ings  acute ;  his  style  free,  and  rich,  and  various  ;  his  devotion 
to  the  cause  of  liberty  verging  on  enthusiasm  ;  and  his  spirit 


PATRICK    IIENHY.  71 

firm  and  undaunted,  beyond  the  possibility  of  being  shaken. 
With  what  delight  the  house  of  burgesses  hailed  this  new 
champion,  and  felicitated  themselves  on  such  an  accession  to 
their  cause,  it  is  easy  to  imagine.  But  what  are  the  hopes  and 
expectations  of  mortals  ! 

44  Ostenclont  terris  hunc  tantuin  fata,  ncque  ultra 
44  Esse  sincnt — " 

In  two  months  from  the  time  at  which  this  gentleman  stood 
before  the  house  of  burgesses,  in  all  the  pride  of  health,  and 
genius,  and  eloquence — he  was  no  more:  lost  to  his  friends, 
and  to  his  country,  and  disappointed  of  sharing  in  that  noble 
triumph  which  awaited  the  illustrious  band  of  his  compatriots.* 

Mr.  Carr's  resolutions  were  supported  successively  by  Mr. 
Henry,  and  Mr.  Richard  Henry  Lee,  with  their  usual  ability. 
The  reader  will  no  doubt  be  gratified  by  a  short  sketch  of  this 
assembly,  as  it  presented  itself  to  a  gentleman  who  now  saw  it 
for  the  first  time,  and  who  looked  upon  it  with  an  eye  of  taste 
and  genius  ;  the  writer  who  was  then  in  the  ardour  of  youth, 
and  a  stranger  in  the  colony,  has  since  been  distinguished  by 
holding  and  adorning  some  of  the  highest  offices  of  the  state. 

*  I  cannot  withhold  from  the  reader  the  following  note  of  this  transaction 
and  of  the  character  of  Mr.  Carr,  from  one  who  knew  him  well,  and  heard  this 
his  first  and  last  speech  in  the  house  of  representatives  :  u  I  well  rernotnber 
ihe  pleasure  expressed  in  the  countenance  and  conversation  of  the  members 
generally,  on  this  debut  of  Mr.  Carr,  and  the  hopes  they  conceived,  as  well 
from  the  talents  as  the  patriotism  it  manifested.  But  he  died  within  two 
months  after,  and  in  him  we  lost  a  powerful  fellow-labourer. 

"  His  character  was  of  a  high  order:  a  spotless  integrity,  sound  judgment, 
handsome  imagination,  enriched  by  education  and  reading,  quick  and  clear  in 
his  conceptions,  of  correct  and  ready  elocution,  impressing  every  hearer  with 
the  sincerity  of  the  heart  from  which  it  flowed.  His  firmness  was  inflexible  in 
whatever  he  thought  right :  but  when  no  moral  principle  was  in  the  way,  never 
had  man  more  of  the  milk  of  human  kindness,  of  indulgence,  of  softness,  of 
pleasantry  in  conversation  and  conduct.  The  number  of  his  friends,  and  the 
warmth  of  their  affection,  were  proofs  of  his  worth  and  of  their  estimate  of  it. 
To  give  to  those  now  living  an  idea  of  the  affliction  produced  by  his  death,  in 
the  minds  of  all  those  who  knew  him,  I  liken  it  to  that  lately  felt  by  them 
selves  on  the  death  of  his  eldest  son,  Peter  Carr ;  so  like  him  in  all  his  en 
dowments  and  moral  qualities,  arid  whose  recollection  can  never  recur  without 
a  deep-drawn  sigh  from  the  bosom  of  every  one  who  knew  him." 

Extract  from  the  Virginia  Gazette,  of  May  29,  1773. 
44  On  Sunday,  the  sixteenth  of  May,  died,  at  Charlottesville,  in  the  thirtieth 
year  of  his  age,  Dabney  Carr,  esquire,  attorney  at  law,  and  member  of  assem 
bly  for  the  county  of  Louisa.  This  excellent  person  possessed  a  fine  genius, 
and  a  benevolent  heart,  with  a  taste  for  all  that  was  polite,  elegant,  or  social ; 
and  when  occasion  offered,  displayed  a  masculine  eloquence,  and  an  undaunted 
love  of  kbeity/' 


72  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

**  When  I  first  saw  Mr.  Henry,  which  was  in  March,  seven 
teen  hundred  and  seventy-three,  he  wore  a  peach-blossom-col 
oured  coat  and  a  dark  wig,  which  tied  behind,  and  I  believe,  a 
bag  to  it,  as  was  the  fashion  of  the  day.  When  pointed  out  to 
me  as  the  orator  of  the  assembly,  I  looked  at  him  with  no  great 
prepossession.  On  the  opposite  side  of  the  house  sat  the 
graceful  Pendleton,  and  the  harmonious  Richard  Henry  Lee, 
whose  aquiline  nose,  and  Roman  profile,  struck  me  much  more 
forcibly  than  tnat  of  Mr.  Henry,  his  rival  in  eloquence.  The 
distance  from  the  gallery  to  the  chair,  near  which  these  distin 
guished  members  sat,  did  not  permit  me  to  have  such  a  view  of 
their  features  and  countenances,  as  to  leave  a  strong  impres 
sion,  except  of  Mr.  Lee's,  whose  profile  was  too  remarkable 
not  to  have  been  noticed  at  an  even  greater  distance. 

"  I  was  then  between  nineteen  and  twenty,  had  never  heard 
a  speech  in  public,  except  from  the  pulpit — had  attached  to  the 
idea  I  had  formed  of  an  orator,  all  the  advantages  of  person 
which  Mr.  Pendleton  possessed,  and  even  more — all  the  ad 
vantages  of  voice  which  delighted  me  so  much  in  the  speeches 
of  Mr.  Lee — the  fine  polish  of  language,  which  that  gentleman 
united  with  that  harmonious  voice,  so  as  to  make  me  sometimes 
fancy  that  I  was  listening  to  some  being  inspired  with  more 
than  mortal  powers  of  embellishment,  and  all  the  advantages 
of  gesture  which  the  celebrated  Demosthenes  considered  as  the 
first,  second,  and  third  qualifications  of  an  orator.  I  discover 
ed  neither  of  these  qualifications  in  the  appearance  of  Mr. 
Henry,  or  in  the  few  remarks  I  heard  him  deliver  during  the 
session. 

"  It  was  at  this  time  that  Mr.  Dabney  Carr  made  a  motion 
for  appointing  a  standing  committee  of  correspondence  with 
the  other  colonies.  I  was  not  present  when  Mr.  Henry  spoke 
on  this  question ;  but  was  told  by  some  of  my  fellow-colle 
gians,  that  he  far  exceeded  Mr.  Lee,  whose  speecli  succeeded 
the  next  day.  Never  before  had  I  heard  what  I  thought  ora 
tory  ;  and  if  his  speech  was  excelled  by  Mr.  Henry's,  the  lat 
ter  must  have  been  excellent,  indeed.  This  was  the  only  sub 
ject  that  I  recollect,  which  called  forth  the  talents  of  the  mem 
bers  during  that  session,  and  there  was  too  much  unanimity  to 
have  elicited  all  the  strength  of  any  one  of  them." 

My  correspondent  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing  Mr.  Henry 
not  long  afterward,  when  speaking  on  a  subject  of  the  highest 
moment  to  the  liberties  of  his  country,  and  of  witnessing  that 
almost  supernatural  transformation  of  appearance,  which  has 
been  already  noticed  as  being  invariably  wrought  by  the  excite 
ment  of  his  genius.  We  shall  have  his  own  account  of  it  by- 
ard-by ;  and  shall  see  that  he  no  longer  formed  an  exception  to 


PATRICK    HENRY.  73 

the  voice  of  his  country,  in  assigning  the  palm  of  popular  elo 
quence  to  this  most  rare  and  extraordinary  favourite  of  nature. 

It  is  not  improbable,  as  it  has  been  suggested,  that  the 
strongly-marked  distinction  of  ranks  which  prevailed  in  this 
country,  and  the  resentment,  if  not  envy,  with  which  the  poor 
er  classes  looked  up  to  the  splendour  and  ostentation  of  the 
landed  aristocracy,  had  a  considerable  agency  in  inflaming  Mr. 
Henry's  hostility  to  the  British  court.  He  probably  regarded 
the  untitled  nobles  of  Virginia  as  a  sort  of  spurious  emanation 
from  the  royal  stock  ;  connected  them  in  his  resentments,  and 
transferred  from  the  effect  to  the  cause,  the  larger  stream  of 
his  indignation. 

He  had  a  rooted  aversion  and  even  abhorrence  to  everything 
in  the  shape  of  pride,  cruelty,  and  tyranny ;  and  could  not  tol 
erate  that  social  inequality  from  which  they  proceeded,  and  by 
which  they  were  nourished.  The  principle  which  he  seems  to 
have  brought  with  him  into  the  world,  and  which  certainly 
formed  the  guide  of  all  his  public  actions,  was,  that  the  whole 
human  race  was  one  family,  equal  in  their  rights,  and  their 
birthright  liberty. 

The  elements  of  his  character  were  most  happily  mingled 
for  the  great  struggle  which  was  now  coming  on.  His  views 
were  not  less  steady  than  they  were  bold.  His  vision  pierced 
deeply  into  futurity ;  and  long  before  a  whisper  of  independ 
ence  had  been  heard  in  this  land,  he  had  looked  through  the 
whole  of  the  approaching  contest,  and  saw,  with  the  eye  and 
the  rapture  of  a  prophet,  his  country  seated  aloft  among  the 
nations  of  the  earth. 

A  striking  proof  of  this  prescience,  is  given  in  an  anecdote 
communicated  to  me  by  Mr.  Pope.  These  are  his  words : — 
"  I  am  informed  by  Colonel  John  Overton,  that  before  one  drop 
of  blood  was  shed  in  our  contest  with  Great  Britain,  he  was  at 
Colonel  Samuel  Overtoil's,  in  company  with  Mr.  Henry,  Col 
onel  Morris,  John  Hawkins,  and  Colonel  Samuel  Overton, 
when  the  last-mentioned  gentleman  asked  Mr.  Henry,  '  whether 
he  supposed  Great  Britain  would  drive  her  colonies  to  extrem 
ities  : — And  if  she  should,  \vhat  he  thought  would  be  the  issue 
of  the  war.' 

"  When  Mr.  Henry,  after  looking  round  to  see  who  were 
present,  expressed  himself  confidentially  to  the  company  in 
the  following  manner: — 'She  will  drive  us  to  extremities — no 
accommodation  will  take  place — hostilities  will  soon  com 
mence — and  a  desperate  and  bloody  touch  it  will  be.' — '  But,* 
said  Colonel  Samuel  Overton,  « do  you  think,  Mr.  Henry,  that 
an  infant  nation  as  we  are,  without  discipline,  arms,  ammuni 
tion,  ships  of  war,  or  money  to  procure  them — do  you  think  it 

7 


74  WIRT'S  LIFE  or 

possible,  thus  circumstanced,  to  oppose  successfully  the  fleets 
and  armies  of  Great  Britain  ?' 

"  *  I  will  be  candid  with  you,'  replied  Mr.  Henry.  '  I  doubt 
whether  we  shall  be  able,  alone,  to  cope  with  so  powerful  a 
nation.  But,'  continued  he,  (rising  from  his  chair,  with  great 
animation,)  '  where  is  France  I  Where  is  Spain  ?  Where  is 
Holland?  the  natural  enemies  of  Great  Britain. — Where  will 
they  be  all  this  while?  Do  you  suppose  they  will  stand  by, 
idle  and  indifferent  spectators  to  the  contest?  Will  Louis 
XVI.  be  asleep  all  this  time?  Believe  me,  no  ! 

" '  When  Louis  XVI.  shall  be  satisfied  by  our  serious  oppo 
sition,  and  our  Declaration  of  Independence,  that  all  prospect 
of  a  reconciliation  is  gone,  then,  and  not  till  then,  will  he  fur 
nish  us  with  arms,  ammunition,  and  clothing;  and  not  with 
these  only,  but  he  will  send  his  fleets  and  armies  to  fight  our 
battles  for  us ;  he  will  form  with  us  a  treaty  offensive  and  de 
fensive,  against  our  unnatural  mother.  Spain  and  Holland 
will  join  the  confederation  !  Our  independence  will  be  estab 
lished  !  and  we  shall  take  our  stand  among  the  nations  of  the 
earth  !'  " 

Here  he  ceased  ;  and  Colonel  John  Overton  says,  he  shall 
never  forget  the  voice  and  prophetic  manner  with  which  these 
predictions  were  uttered,  and  which  have  been  since  so  literally 
verified.  Colonel  Overton  says  at  the  word  independence,  the 
company  appeared  to  be  startled  ;  for  they  had  never  heard 
anything  of  the  kind  before  even  suggested. 

It  was  anticipated,  that  the  establishment  of  corresponding 
committees  would  lead  eventually  to  a  congress  of  the  colo 
nies,  and  that  measure  was  brought  about  by  the  following 
circumstances : — 

The  people  of  Boston  having  thrown  into  the  sea  a  vessel 
load  of  tea,  which  was  attempted  to  be  forced  upon  them,  were 
punished  by  an  act  of  parliament,  which  shut  up  their  port, 
from  and  after  the  first  day  of  June,  seventeen  hundred  and 
seventy-four.  The  house  of  burgesses  of  Virginia  being  in 
session  when  this  act  arrived,  passed  an  order  which  stands 
upon  their  journal  in  the  following  terms  : — 

"  Tuesday,  the  24fA-  of  May,  14  Gco.  III.  1774. 

"This  house,  being  deeply  impressed  with  apprehension  of 
the  great  dangers  to  be  derived  to  British  America,  from  the 
hostile  invasion  of  the  city  of  Boston,  in  our  sister-colony  of 
the  Massachusetts  bay,  whose  commerce  and  harbour  are,  on 
the  first  day  of  June  next,  to  be  stopped  by  an  armed  force, 
deem  it  highly  necessary  that  the  said  first  day  of  June  next 
be  set  apart,  by  the  members  of  this  house,  as  a  day  of  fasting, 


PATRICK    HENRY.  75 

humiliation,  and  prayer,  devoutly  to  implore  the  Divine  inter 
position  for  averting  the  heavy  calamity  which  threatens  de 
struction  to  our  civil  rights,  and  the  evils  of  civil  war  ;  to  give 
us  one  heart  and  one  mind,  firmly  to  oppose,  by  all  just  and 
proper  means,  every  injury  to  American  rights ;  and  that  the 
minds  of  his  majesty  and  his  parliament  may  be  inspired  from 
above  with  wisdom,  moderation,  and  justice,  to  remove  from 
the  loyal  people  of  America  all  cause  of  danger  from  a  contin 
ued  pursuit  of  measures  pregnant  with  their  ruin. 

"  Ordered,  therefore,  That  the  members  of  this  house  do 
attend  in  their  places,  at  the  hour  of  ten  in  the  forenoon,  on  the 
said  first  day  of  June  next,  in  order  to  proceed  with  the  speaker 
and  the  mace  to  the  church  in  this  city,  for  the  purpose  afore 
said  ;  and  that  the  Reverend  Mr.  Price  be  appointed  to  read 
prayers,  and  to  preach  a  sermon  suitable  to  the  occasion/' 

In  consequence  of  this  order,  Governor  Dunmore,  on  the 
following  day,  dissolved  the  house,  with  this  speech  : — "  Mr. 
Speaker,  and  gentlemen  of  the  house  of  burgesses :  I  have  in 
my  hand  a  paper  published  by  order  of  your  house,  conceived 
in  such  terms  as  reflect  highly  upon  his  majesty  and  the  par 
liament  of  Great  Britain,  which  makes  it  necessary  to  dissolve 
you,  and  you  are  dissolved  accordingly." 

The  members  immediately  withdrew  to  the  Raleigh  tavern, 
where  they  formed  themselves  into  a  committee  to  consider  of 
the  most  expedient  and  necessary  measures  to  guard  against 
the  encroachments  which  so  glaringly  threatened  them  ;  and  im 
mediately  adopted  the  following  spirited  association  : — 

"  An  association  signed  by  eighty-nine  members  of  the  late 
house  of  burgesses.  We,  his  majesty's  most  dutiful  and  loyal 
subjects,  the  late  representatives  of  the  good  people  of  this 
country,  having  been  deprived,  by  the  sudden  interposition  of 
the  executive  part  of  this  government,  from  giving  our  coun 
trymen  the  advice  we  wished  to  convey  to  them,  in  a  legisla 
tive  capacity,  find  ourselves  under  the  hard  necessity  of  adopt 
ing  this,  the  only  method  we  have  left,  of  pointing  out  to  our 
countrymen  such  measures  as,  in  our  opinion,  are  best  fitted 
to  secure  our  dear  rights  and  liberty  from  destruction,  by  the 
heavy  hand  of  power  now  lifted  against  North  America. 

"  With  much  grief  we  find,  that  our  dutiful  applications  to 
Great  Britain  for  the  security  of  our  just,  ancient,  and  consti 
tutional  rights,  have  been  not  only  disregarded,  but  that  a  de 
termined  system  is  formed  and  pressed,  for  reducing  the  inhab 
itants  of  British  America  to  slavery,  by  subjecting  them  to  the 
payment  of  taxes  imposed  without  the  consent  of  the  people 
their  representatives ;  and  that,  in  pursuit  of  this  system,  we 
find  an  act  of  British  parliament,  lately  passer!  for  stopping  the 


76  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

harbour  and  commerce  of  the  town  of  Boston,  in  our  sister-col 
ony  of  Massachusetts  bay,  until  the  people  there  submit  to 
the  payment  of  such  unconstitutional  taxes ;  and  which  act 
most  violently  and  arbitrarily  deprives  them  of  their  property, 
in  wharves  erected  by  private  persons,  at  their  own  great  and 
proper  expense  ;  which  act  is,  in  our  opinion,  a  most  danger 
ous  aitempt  to  destroy  the  constitutional  liberty  and  rights  of 
all  Noith  America.  »  • 

**  It  is  further  our  opinion,  that  as  tea,  on  its  importation  into 
America,  is  charged  with  a  duty  imposed  by  parliament,  for 
the  purpose  of  raising  a  revenue  without  the  consent  of  the 
people,  it  ought  not  to  be  used  by  any  person  who  wishes  well 
to  the  constitutional  rights  and  liberties  of  British  America. 
And  whereas  the  India  company  have  ungenerously  attempted 
the  ruin  oi  America,  by  sending  many  ships  loaded  Avith  tea 
into  the  colonies,  thereby  intending  to  fix  a  precedent  in  favour 
of  arbitrary  taxation,  we  deem  it  highly  proper  and  do  accord 
ingly  recommend  it  strongly  to  our  countrymen,  not  to  pur 
chase  or  use  any  kind  of  East  India  commodity  whatsoever, 
except  saltpetre  and  spices,  until  the  grievances  of  America  are 
redressed. 

"  We  are  further  clearly  of  opinion,  that  an  attack  made  on 
one  of  our  sister-colonies,  to  compel  submission  to  arbitrary 
taxes,  is  an  attack  made  on  all  British  America,  and  threatens 
ruin  to  the  rights  of  all,  unless  the  united  wisdom  of  the  whole 
be  applied.  And  for  this  purpose  it  is  recommended  to  the 
committee  of  correspondence,  that  they  communicate  with  their 
several  corresponding  committees,  on  the  expediency  of  ap 
pointing  deputies  from  the  several  colonies  of  British  Amer 
ica,  to  meet  in  general  cqngress,  at  such  place,  annually,  as 
shall  be  thought  most  convenient ;  there  to  deliberate  on  those 
general  measures  which  the  united  interests  of  America  may 
from  time  to  time  require. 

"  A  tender  regard  for  the  interests  of  our  fellow-subjects,  the 
merchants  and  manufacturers  of  Great  Britain,  prevents  us 
from  going  further  at  this  time ;  most  earnestly  hoping  that 
the  unconstitutional  principle  of  taxing  the  colonies  without 
their  consent  will  not  be  persisted  in,  thereby  to  compel  us 
against  our  will,  to  avoid  all  commercial  intercourse  with  Brit 
ain.  Wishing  them  and  our  people  free  and  happy,  we  are 
their  affectionate  friends,  the  late  representatives  of  Virginia. 

"  The  With  day  of  May,  1774." 

VTo  give  effect  to  the  recommendation  of  a  congress  on  the 
rt  of  this  colony,  delegates  were  shortly  after  elected  by  the 
several  counties  to  meet  in  Williamsburgh  on  the  first  of  A.U- 


PATRICK    HENRY.  77 

gust  following,  to  consider  further  of  the  state  of  public  affairs, 
and  more  particularly,  to  appoint  deputies  to  the  general  con 
gress,  which  was  to  be  convened  ut  Philadelphia,  on  the  fifth 
of  September  following.  The  clear,  firm,  and  animated  instruc 
tions  given  by  the  people  of  the  several  counties  to  their  dele 
gates,  evince  the  thorough  knowledge  of  the  great  parliamentary 
question  which  now  pervaded  the  country,  and  the  determined 
spirit  of  the  colonists  to  resist  the  claim  of  British  taxation. 

The  following  are  the  Instructions  from  the  county  of  Han 
over  : — 
'*  To  John  Syme  and  Patrick  Henry,  Jim.,  Esquires. 

"GENTLEMEN,  You  have  our  thanks  for  your  patriotic,  faith- 
ful,  and  spirited  conduct,  in  the  part  you  acted  in  the  late 
assembly,  as  our  burgesses,  and  as  we  are  greatly  alarmed  at 
the  proceedings  of  the  British  parliament  respecting  the  town 
of  Boston,  and  the  province  of  Massachusetts  bay ;  and  as  we 
understand  a  meeting  of  delegates  from  all  the  counties  in  this 
colony  is  appointed  to  be  in  Williamsburgh  on  the  first  day  of 
next  month,  to  deliberate  on  our  public  affairs,  we  do  hereby 
appoint  you,  gentlemen,  our  delegates  ;  and  we  do  request  you, 
then  and  there,  to  meet,  consult,  and  advise,  touching  such 
matters  as  are  most  likely  to  effect  our  deliverance  from  the 
evils  with  which  our  country  is  threatened. 

"  The  importance  of  those  things  which  will  offer  themselves 
for  your  deliberation  is  exceedingly  great ;  and  when  it  is  con 
sidered  that  the  effect  of  the  measures  you  may  adopt  will 
reach  our  latest  posterity,  you  will  excuse  us  for  giving  you 
our  sentiments,  and  pointing  out  some  particulars,  proper  for 
that  plan  of  conduct  we  wish  you  to  observe. 

"  We  are  freemen  ;  we  have  a  right  to  be  so  ;  and  to  enjoy  all 
the  privileges  and  immunities  of  our  fellow-subjects  in  Eng 
land  ;  and  while  we  retain  a  just  sense  of  that  freedom,  and 
those  rights  and  privileges  necessary  for  its  safety  and  secu 
rity,  we  shall  never  give  up  the  right  of  taxation.  Let  it  suf 
fice  to  say,  once  for  all,  we  will  never  be  taxed  but  by  our  own 
representatives  ;  this  is  the  great  badge  of  freedom,  and  British 
America  hath  hitherto  been  distinguished  by  it ;  and  when  we 
see  the  British  parliament  trampling  upon  that  right,  and  acting 
with  determined  resolution  to  destroy  it,  we  would  wish  to  see 
the  united  wisdom  and  fortitude  of  America,  collected  for  its 
defence. 

"The  sphere  of  life  in  which  we  move  hath  not  afforded  us 
lights  sufficient  to  determine  with  certainty,  concerning  those 
things  from  which  the  troubles  at  Boston  originated.  Whether 
the  people  there  were  warranted  by  justice,  when  they  destroy 
ed  the  tea,  we  know  not ;  but  this  we  know,  that  the  parlia- 

7* 


78  WIRT'S  LIFK  OF 

ment  by  their  proceedings,  have  made  us  and  all  North  Amer 
ica  parties  in  the  present  dispute,  and  deeply  interested  in  the 
event  of  it ;  insomuch  that  if  our  sister-colony  of  Massachu 
setts  bay  is  enslaved,  we  cannot  long  remain  free. 

"Our  rninds  are  filled  with  anxiety  when  we  view  the  friendly 
regard  of  our  parent  state  turned  into  enmity  ;  and  those  pow 
ers  of  government  formerly  exerted  for  our  aid  and  protection, 
formed  into  dangerous  efforts  for  our  destruction.  We  read 
our  intended  doom  in  the  Boston  port-bill,  in /that  for  altering 
the  mode  of  trial  in  criminal  cases,  and,  finally,  in  the  bill  for 
altering  the  form  of  government  in  the  Massachusetts  bay. 
These  several  acts  are  replete  with  injustice  and  oppression, 
and  strongly  expressive  of  the  future  policy  of  Britain  toward 
all  her  colonies  ;  if  a  full  and  uncontrolled  operation  is  given 
to  this  detestable  system  in  its  earlier  stages,  it  will  probably 
be  fixed  upon  us  for  ever. 

"  Let  it,  therefore,  be  your  great  object  to  obtain  a  speedy 
repeal  of  those  acts  ;  and  for  this  purpose  we  recommend  the 
adoption  of  such  measures  as  may  produce  the  hearty  union 
t)f  all  our  countrymen  and  sister-colonies.  UNITED  WE  STAND, 

DIVIDED    WE    FALL. 

"To  attain  this  wished-for  union,  we  declare  our  readiness  to 
sacrifice  any  lesser  interest  arising  from  a  soil,  climate,  situa 
tion,  or  productions  peculiar  to  us.  We  judge  it  conducive  to 
the  interests  of  America,  that  a  general  congress  of  deputies 
from  all  the  colonies  be  held,  in  order  to  form  a  plan  for  guard 
ing  the  claim  of  the  colonists,  and  their  constitutional  rights, 
•from  future  encroachment,  and  for  the  speedy  relief  of  our  suf 
fering  brethren  at  Boston. 

"  For  the  present,  we  think  it  proper  to  form  a  general  asso 
ciation  against  the  purchase  of  all  articles  of  goods  imported 
from  Great  Britain,  except  negroes'  cloths,  salt,  saltpetre,  pow 
der,  lead,  utensils  and  implements  for  handy-craftsmen  and 
manufacturers,  which  cannot  be  had  in  America ;  books,  pa 
per,  and  the  like  necessaries ;  and  not  to  purchase  any  goods 
or  merchandise  that  shall  be  imported  from  Great  Britain,  after 
a  certain  day  that  may  be  agreed  on  for  that  purpose  by  the 
said  general  meeting  of  deputies  at  Williamsburgh,  except  the 
articles  aforesaid,  or  such  as  shall  be  allowed  to  be  imported 
by  the  said  meeting  ;  and  that  we  will  encourage  the  manufac 
tures  of  America  by  every  means  in  our  power. 

"A  regard  to  justice  hinders  us  at  this  time  from  withholding 
our  exports  ;  nothing  but  the  direct  necessity  shall  induce  us 
to  adopt  that  proceeding,  which  we  shall  strive  to  avoid  as  long 
as  possible.  The  African  trade  for  slaves  we  consider  as  most 
dangerous  to  the  virtue  and  welfare  of  this  country ;  we  there- 


FATRICK    HENRY. 


79 


fore  most  earnestly  wish  to  see  it  totally  discouraged.  A  steady 
loyalty  to  the  kings  of  England  has  ever  distinguished  our 
country;  the  present  state  of  things  here,  as  well  as  the  many 
instances  of  it  to  be  found  in  our  history,  leave  no  room  to 
doubt  it. 

"  God  grant  that  we  may  never  see  the  time  when  that  loy 
alty  shall  be  found  incompatible  with  the  rights  of  freemen. 
Our  most  ardent  desire  is,  that  we  and  our  latest  posterity  may 
continue  to  live  under  the  genuine,  unaltered  constitution  of 
England,  and  be  subjects,  in  the  true  spirit  of  that  constitution, 
to  his  majesty,  and  his  illustrious  house;  and  may  the  wretches 
who  afirm  that  we  desire  the  contrary,  feel  the  punishment 
due  to  falsehood  and  villany. 

44  While  prudence  and  moderation  shall  guide  your  councils, 
we  trust,  gentlemen,  that  firmness,  resolution,  and  zeal,  will  ani 
mate  you  in  the  glorious  struggle.  The  arm  of  power,  which 
is  now  stretched  forth  against  us,  is  indeed  formidable  ;  but  we 
do  not  despair.  Our  cause  is  good ;  and  if  it  is  served  with 
constancy  and  fidelity,  it  cannot  fail  of  success.  We  promise 
you  our  best  support,  and  we  will  heartily  join  in  such  meas 
ures  as  a  majority  of  our  countrymen  shall  adopt  for  securing 
the  public  liberty. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  above  address  be  transmitted  to  the 
printers  to  be  published  in  the  gazettes. 

"WILLIAM  POLLARD,  Clerk." 

On  the  first  of  August,  accordingly,  the  first  convention  of 
Virginia  delegates  assembled  in  Williamsburgh ;  and  gave  a 
new  proof  of  the  invincible  energy  by  which  they  were  actua 
ted,  in  a  series  of  resolutions,  whereby  they  pledged  themselves 
to  make  common  cause  with  the  people  of  Boston  in  every  ex 
tremity-,  and  broke  off  all  commercial  connexion  with  the 
mother-country,  until  the  grievances  of  which  they  complained 
should  be  redressed.  By  their  last  resolution  they  empowered 
their  moderator,  Mr.  Peyton  Randolph,  or  in  case  of  his  death, 
Robert  C.  Nicholas,  esquire,  on  any  future  occasion  that  might 
in  his  opinion  require  it,  to  convene  the  several  delegates  of  the 
colony,  at  such  time  and  place  as  he  might  judge  proper. 

They  then  appointed  as  deputies  to  congress  on  the  part  of 
this  colony,  Messrs.  Peyton  Randolph,  Richard  Henry  Lee, 
George  Washington,  Patrick  Henry,  Richard  Bland,  Benjamin 
Harrison,  and  Edmund  Pendleton,  and  furnished  them  with  the 
following  firm  and  spirited  letter  of  instructions  : — 
"Instructions  for  the  Deputies  appointed  to  meet  in  General 
Congress,  on  the  part  of  the  Colony  of  Virginia. 

"The  unhappy  disputes  between  Great  Britain  and  her  Amer 
ican  colonies,  which  began  about  the  third  year  of  the  rei*1*  •  J 


80  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

his  present  majesty,  and  since  continually  increasing,  have  pro 
ceedecl  to  lengths  so  dangerous  and  alarming,  as  to  excite  just 
apprehensions  in  the  minds  of  his  majesty's  faithful  subjects  of 
the  colony,  that  they  are  in  danger  of  being  deprived  of  their 
natural,  ancient,  constitutional,  and  chartered  rights,  have  com 
pelled  them  to  take  the  same  into  their  most  serious  consider 
ation  ;  and  being  deprived  of  their  usual  and  accustomed  modfr 
of  making  known  their  grievances,  have  appointed  us  their  rep 
resentatives,  to  consider  what  is  proper  to  be  done  in  this  dan 
gerous  crisis  of  American  affairs. 

"It  being  our  opinion  that  the  united  wisdom  of  North  Amer 
ica  should  be  collected  in  a  general  congress  of  all  the  colonies, 
we  have  appointed  the  Honourable  Peyton  Randolph,  Richard 
Henry  Lee,  George  Washington,  Patrick  Henry,  Richard 
Bland,  Benjamin  Harrison,  and  Edmund  Pendleton,  esquires, 
deputies  to  represent  this  colony  in  the  said  congress,  to  be 
held  at  Philadelphia  on  the  first  Monday  in  September  next. 

"And  that  they  may  be  the  better  informed  of  our  sentiments 
touching  the  conduct  we  wish  them  to  observe  on  this  impor 
tant  occasion,  we  desire  that  they  will  express,  in  the  first 
place,  our  faith  and  true  allegiance  to  his  majesty,  King  George 
III.,  our  lawful  and  rightful  sovereign  ;  and  that  we  are  deter 
mined,  with  our  lives  and  fortunes,  to  support  him  in  the  legal 
exercise  of  all  his  just  rights  and  prerogatives.  And,  however 
misrepresented,  we  sincerely  approve  of  a  constitutional  con 
nexion  with  Great  Britain,  and  wish  most  ardently  a  return  of 
that  intercourse  of  affection  and  commercial  connexion  that 
formerly  united  both  countries  ;  which  can  only  be  effected  by 
a  removal  of  those  causes  of  discontent  which  have  of  late  un 
happily  divided  us. 

"It  cannot  admit  of  a  doubt,  but  that  British  subjects  in 
America  are  entitled  to  the  same  rights  and  privileges  as  their 
fellow-subjects  possess  in  Britain  ;  and,  therefore,  that  the  pow 
er  assumed  by  the  British  parliament  to  bind  America  by  their 
statutes,  in  all  cases  whatsoever,  is  unconstitutional  and  the 
source  of  these  unhappy  differences. 

"  The  end  of  government  would  be  defeated,  by  the  British 
parliament  exercising  a  power  over  the  lives,  the  property,  and 
the  liberty  of  American  subjects,  who  are  not,  and  from  their 
local  circumstances  cannot,  be  there  represented.  Of  this  na 
ture  we  consider  the  several  acts  of  parliament  for  raising  a 
revenue  in  America,  for  extending  the  jurisdiction  of  the  courts 
of  admiralty,  for  seizing  American  subjects,  and  transporting 
them  to  Britain,  to  be  tried  for  crimes  committed  in  America, 
and  the  several  late  oppressive  acts  respecting  the  town  of  Bos 
ton,  and  province  of  Massachusetts  bay. 


PATRICK    HENRY.  81 

"The  original  constitution  of  the  American  colonies,  posses 
sing  their  assemblies  with  the  sole  right  of  directing  their  inter 
nal  polity,  it  is  absolutely  destructive  of  the  end  of  their  in 
stitution,  that  their  legislatures  should  be  suspended,  or  pre 
vented,  by  hasty  dissolutions,  from  exercising  their  legislative 
powers. 

"Wanting  the  protection  of  Britain,  we  have  long  acquiesced 
in  their  acts  of  navigation,  restrictive  of  our  commerce,  which 
we  consider  as  an  ample  recompense  for  such  protection  ;  but 
as  those  acts  derive  their  efficacy  from  that  foundation  alone, 
we  have  reason  to  expect  they  will  be  restrained,  so  as  to  pro 
duce  the  reasonable  purposes  of  Britain,  and  not  be  injurious 
to  us. 

44  To  obtain  redress  of  these  grievances,  without  which  the 
people  of  America  can  neither  be  safe,  free,  nor  happy,  they 
are  willing  to  undergo  the  great  inconvenience  that  will  be  de 
rived  to  them,  from  stopping  all  imports  whatsoever  from  Great 
Britain,  after  the  first  day  of  November  next,  and  also  to  cease 
•exporting  any  commodity  whatsoever  to  the  same  place,  after 
the  tenth  day  of  August,  seventeen  hundred  and  seventy-five. 

"  The  earnest  desire  we  have  to  make  as  quick  and  full  pay 
ment  as  possible  of  our  debts  to  Great  Britain,  and  to  avoid  the  , 
heavy  injury  that  would  arise  to  this  country  from  an  earlier 
adoption  of  the  non-exportation  plan,  after  the  people  have  al 
ready  applied  so  much  of  their  labour  to  the  perfecting  of  the 
present  crop,  by  which  means  they  have  been  prevented  from 
pursuing  other  methods  of  clothing  and  supporting  their  fami 
lies,  have  rendered  it  necessary  to  restrain  you  in  this  article 
of  non-exportation  ;  but  it  is  our  desire  that  you  cordially  co 
operate  with  our  sister-colonies  in  general  congress,  in  such 
other  just  and  proper  methods  as  they,  or  the  majority  shall 
deem  necessary  for  the  accomplishment  of  these  valuable 
ends. 

"  The  proclamation  issued  by  General  Gage,  in  the  govern 
ment  of  the  province  of  the  Massachusetts  bay,  declaring  it 
treason  for  the  inhabitants  of  that  province  to  assemble  them 
selves  to  consider  of  their  grievances,  and  form  associations  for 
their  common  conduct  on  the  occasion,  and  requiring  the  civil 
magistrates  and  officers  to  apprehend  all  such  persons  to  be 
tried  for  their  supposed  offences,  is  the  most  alarming  process 
that  ever  appeared  in  a  British  government ;  the  said  General 
Gage  has  thereby  assumed  and  taken  upon  himself  powers 
denied  by  the  constitution  to  our  legal  sovereign  ;  he  not  hav 
ing  condescended  to  disclose  by  what  authority  he  exercises 
such  extensive  and  unheard-of  powers,  we  are  at  a  loss  to  de-» 
termine  whether  he  intends  to  justify  himself  as  the  represent* 


ative  of  the  king,  or  as  the  commander-in-chief  of  his  majesty's 
forces  in  America. 

"If  he  considers  himself  as  acting  in  the  character  of  his 
majesty's  representative,  we  would  remind  him  that  the  statute 
25th,  Edward  III.,  has  expressed  and  defined  all  treasonable 
offences,  and  the  legislature  of  Great  Britain  hath  declared  that 
no  offence  shall  be  construed  to  be  treason,  but  such  as  is  point 
ed  out  by  that  statute  ;  and  that  this  was  done  to  take  out  of 
the  hands  of  tyrannical  kings,  and  of  weak  and  wicked  minis 
ters,  that  deadly  weapon  which  constructive  treason  hath  fur 
nished  them  with,  and  which  had  drawn  the  blood  of  the  best 
and  honestest  men  in  the  kingdom ;  and  that  the  king  of  Great 
Britain  hath  no  right  by  his  proclamation  to  subject  his  people 
to  imprisonment,  pains,  and  penalties. 

"That  if  the  said  General  Gage  conceives  he  is  empowered 
to  act  in  this  manner,  as  the  commander-in-chief  of  his  majesty's 
forces  in  America,  this  odious  and  illegal  proclamation  must 
be  considered  as  a  plain  and  full  declaration  that  this  despotic 
viceroy  will  be  bound  by  no  law,  nor  regard  the  constitutional 
rights  of  his  majesty's  subjects,  whenever  they  interfere  with 
the  plan  he  has  formed  for  oppressing  the  good  people  of  Mas 
sachusetts  bay  ;  and,  therefore,  that  the  executing,  or  attempt 
ing  to  execute,  such  proclamation,  will  justify  resistance  and 
reprisal." 

On  the  fourth  of  September,  seventeen  hundred  and  seventy- 
four,  that  venerable  body,  the  old  continental  congress  of  the 
United  States,  (toward  whom  every  American  heart  will  bow 
with  pious  homage,  while  the  name  of  liberty  shall  be  dear  in 
our  land,)  met  for  the  first  time  at  Carpenter's  Hall,  in  the  city 
of  Philadelphia.  Peyton  Randolph,  of  Virginia,  was  chosen 
president,  and  the  house  was  organized  for  business  with  all 
the  solemnities  of  a  regular  legislature.* 

The  most  eminent  men  of  the  various  colonies  were  now, 
for  the  first  time,  brought  together.  They  were  known  to  each 
other  by  fame ;  but  they  were  personally  strangers.  The 

*  Sallust,  in  his  second  oration  to  C.  Cesar,  De  Repullica  Ordinanda, 
gives  a  short  and  animated  picture  of  their  Roman  ancestors  which,  with  the 
change  of  a  single  word,  (libertate  for  impcrio,)  describes  so  happily  our  old 
continental  congress,  that  I  am  sure  I  shall  gratify  the  classic  reader  by  its 
insertion. 

"Itaque,  majores  nostri,  cum  bellis  asperimis  premerentur,  equis,  viris, 
pecunia  arnissa,  nunquam  defessi  sunt  armati  de  libertate  contendere.  Non 
inopia  aerarii,  non  vis  hostium,  non  adversa  res,  ingentem  eorum  animum 
subegit  :  quern,  quae  virtute  ceperant,  simul  cum  anirna  retinerent.  Atque 
ea,  magis  fortibus  consiliis,  quain  bonis  prseliis,  patrata  sunt.  Quippe  apud 
illos,  una  respublica  erat ;  ei  consulebant ;  factio,  contra  hostes  parabatur; 
corpus  atque  ingenium,  patriae,  non  suse,  quisque  potentiae  exercitabat." 


PATRICK    HENRY.  83 

meeting  was  awfully  solemn.  The  object  which  had  called 
them  together  was  of  incalculable  magnitude.  The  liberties  of 
no  less  than  three  millions  of  people,  with  that  of  all  their  pos 
terity,  were  staked  on  the  wisdom  and  energy  of  their  councils. 
No  wonder,  then,  at  the  long  and  deep  silence  which  is  said  to 
have  followed  upon  their  organization  ;  at  the  anxiety  with 
which  the  members  looked  around  upon  each  other ;  and  the 
reluctance  which  every  individual  felt  to  open  a  business  so 
fearfully  momentous. 

In  the  midst  of  this  deep  and  deathlike  silence,  and  just 
when  it  was  beginning  to  become  painfully  embarrassing,  Mr. 
Henry  arose  slowly,  as  if  borne  down  by  the  weight  of  the 
subject.  After  faltering,  according  to  his  habit,  through  a  most 
impressive  exordium,  in  which  he  merely  echoed  back  the  con 
sciousness  of  every  other  heart,  in  deploring  his  inability  to  do 
justice  to  the  occasion,  he  launched  gradually  into  a  recital  of 
the  colonial  wrongs.  Rising,  as  he  advanced,  with  the  gran 
deur  of  his  subject,  and  glowing  at  length  with  all  the  majesty 
and  expectation  of  the  occasion,  his  speech  seemed  more  than 
that  of  mortal  man. 

Even  those  who  had  heard  him  in  all  his  glory,  in  the  house 
of  burgesses  of  Virginia,  were  astonished  at  the  manner  in 
which  his  talents  seemed  to  swell  and  expand  themselves,  to 
fill  the  vaster  theatre  in  which  he  was  now  placed.  There  was 
no  rant — no  rhapsody — no  labour  of  the  understanding — no 
straining  of  the  voice — no  confusion  of  the  utterance.  His 
countenance  was  erect — his  eye,  steady — his  action,  noble— - 
his  enunciation,  clear  and  firm — his  mind  poised  on  its  centre — • 
his  views  of  his  subject  comprehensive  and  great — and  his 
imagination  coruscating  with  a  magnificence  and  a  variety, 
which  struck  even  that  assembly  with  amazement  and  awe. 
He  sat  down  amid  murmurs  of  astonishment  and  applause;  and 
as  he  had  been  before  proclaimed  the  greatest  orator  of  Vir* 
ginia,  he  was  now,  on  every  hand,  admitted  to  be  the  first  ora 
tor  of  America. 

He  was  followed  by  Mr.  Richard  Henry  Lee,  who  charmed 
the  house  with  a  different  kind  of  eloquence — chaste — clas 
sical — beautiful — his  polished  periods  rolling  along  without  ef 
fort,  filling  the  ear  with  the  most  bewitching  harmony,  and  de 
lighting  the  mind  with  the  most  exquisite  imagery.  The  cul 
tivated  graces  of  Mr.  Lee's  rhetoric  received  and  at  the  same 
time  reflected  beauty,  by  their  contrast  with  the  wild  and  grand 
effusions  of  Mr.  Henry.  Just  as  those  noble  monuments  of 
art  which  lie  scattered  through  the  celebrated  landscape  of 
Naples,  at  once  adorn,  and  are  in  their  turn  adorned  by  the  sur 
rounding  majesty  of  Nature. 


84  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

Two  models  of  eloquence,  each  so  perfect  in  its  kind,  and  so 
finely  contrasted,  could  not  but  fill  the  house  with  the  highest 
admiration ;  and  as  Mr.  Henry  had  before  been  pronounced  the 
Demosthenes,  it  was  conceded  on  every  hand,  that  Mr.  Lee 
was  the  Cicero,  of  America. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Proceedings  of  the  Congress — Mr.  Henry's  early  Opinion  of  Washington — 
Meeting  of  Delegates  in  Richmond — Mr.  Henry's  Resolutions  for  arming 
the  Militia — Speech  on  that  Occasion — Resolutions  Adopted. 

IT  is  due,  however,  to  historic  truth  to  record,  that  the  su 
perior  powers  of  these  great  men  were  manifested  only  in  de 
bate.  On  the  floor  of  the  house,  and  during  the  first  days  of 
the  session,  while  general  grievances  were  the  topic,  they  took 
the  undisputed  lead  in  the  assembly,  and  were  confessedly, 
primi  inter  pares.  But  when  called  down  from  the  heights  ot 
declamation,  to  that  severer  test  of  intellectual  excellence,  the 
details  of  business,  they  found  themselves  in  a  body  of  cool- 
headed,  reflecting,  and  most  able  men,  by  whom  they  were,  in 
their  turn,  completely  thrown  into  the  shade. 

A  petition  to  the  king,  an  address  to  the  people  of  Great 
Britain,  and  a  memorial  to  the  people  of  British  America,  were 
agreed  to  be  drawn.  Mr.  Lee,  Mr.  Henry,  and  others,  were 
appointed  for  the  first ;  Mr.  Lee,  Mr.  Livingston,  and  Mr.  Jay, 
for  the  two  last.  The  splendour  of  their  debut  occasioned  Mr. 
Henry  to  be  designated  by  his  committee,  to  draw  the  petition 
to  the  king,  with  which  they  were  charged ;  and  Mr.  Lee  was 
charged  with  the  address  to  the  people  of  England. 

The  last  was  first  reported.  On  reading  it,  great  disappoint 
ment  was  expressed  in  every  countenance,  and  a  dead  silence 
ensued  for  some  minutes.  At  length,  it  was  laid  on  the  table, 
for  perusal  and  consideration,  till  the  next  day  :  when  first  one 
member  and  then  another  arose,  and  paying  some  faint  com 
pliment  to  the  composition,  observed  that  there  were  still  cer 
tain  considerations  not  expressed,  which  should  properly  find 
a  place  in  it.  The  address  was,  therefore,  committed  for 
amendment;  and  one  prepared  by  Mr.  Jay,  and  offered  by 
Governor  Livingston,  was  reported  and  adopted,  with  scarcely 
an  alteration. 

These  facts  are  stated  by  a  gentleman  to  whom  they  were 
communicated  by  Mr.  Pendleton  and  Mr.  Harrison,  of  the  Vir 


PATRICK    HENRY.  85 

ginia  delegation,  (except  that  Mr.  Harrison  erroneously  as 
cribed  the  draught  to  Governor  Livingston,)  and  to  whom  they 
were  afterward  confirmed  by  Governor  Livingston  himself. 
Mr.  Henry's  draught  of  a  petition  to  the  king  was  equally  un 
successful,  and  was  recommitted  for  amendment.  Mr.  John 
Dickinson  (the  author  of  the  Farmer's  Letters)  was  added  to 
the  committee,  and  a  new  draught,  prepared  by  him,  was 
adopted.* 

This  is  one  of  the  incidents  in  the  life  of  Mr.  Henry  to 
which  an  allusion  was  made  in  a  former  page,  when  it  was  ob 
served,  that  notwithstanding  the  wonderful  gifts  which  he  had 
derived  from  nature,  he  lived  himself  to  deplore  his  early  neg 
lect  of  literature.  But  for  this  neglect,  that  imperishable 
trophy  won  by  the  pen  of  Mr.  John  Dickinson  would  have 
been  his  ;  and  the  fame  of  his  genius,  instead  of  resting  on 
tradition,  or  the  short-lived  report  of  his  present  biographer, 
would  have  flourished  on  the  immortal  page  of  the  American 
history. 

It  is  a  trite  remark,  that  the  talents  for  speaking  and  for 
writing  eminently  are  very  rarely  found  united  in  the  same  ind; 
vidual ;  and  the  rarity  of  the  occurrence  has  led  to  an  opinion, 
that  those  talents  depend  on  constitutions  of  mind  so  widely 
different,  as  to  render  their  union  almost  wholly  unattainable. 
This  was  not  the  opinion,  however,  it  is  believed,  at  Athens 
and  at  Rome  :  it  cannot,  I  apprehend,  be  the  opinion  either  in 
the  united  kingdom  of  Great  Britain. 

There  have  been,  indeed,  in  these  countries  distinguished 
orators,  who  have  not  left  behind  them  any  proofs  of  their  emi 
nence  in  composition  ;  but  neither  have  they  left  behind  them 
any  proofs  of  their  failure  in  this  respect ;  so  that  the  conclu 
sion  of  their  incompetency  is  rather  assumed  than  established. 
On  the  other  hand,  there  have  been  in  all  those  countries,  too 
many  illustrious  examples  of  the  union  of  those  talents,  to  jus 
tify  the  belief  of  their  incongruity  by  any  general  law  of  nature. 
That  there  have  been  many  eminent  writers  who,  from  phys 
ical  defects,  could  never  have  become  orators,  is  very  certain : 
but  is  the  converse  of  the  proposition  equally  true  ?  Was  there 
ever  an  eminent  orator  who  might  not,  by  proper  discipline, 

*  The  late  Governor  Tyler,  a  warm  friend  of  Mr.  Henry,  used  to  relate  an 
anecdote  in  strict  accordance  with  this  statement :  it  was,  that  after  these  two 
gentlemen  had  made  their  first  speeches,  Mr.  Chase,  a  delegate  from  Maryland, 
walked  across  the  house  to  the  seat  of  his  colleague,  and  said  to  him,  in  an 
under  voice  :  "  We  might  as  well  go  home  ;  we  are  not  able  to  legislate  with 
these  men."  But  that  after  the  house  came  to  descend  to  details,  the  same 
Mr.  Chase  was  heard  to  remark  :  "  Well,  after  all,  I  find  these  are  but  men-  • 
and  in  mere  matters  of  business,  but  very  common  men" 

s 


86  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

have  become,  also,  a  very  eminent  writer  ?  What  are  the 
essential  qualities  of  the  orator?  Are  they  not  judgment,  in 
vention,  imagination,  sensibility,  taste,  and  expression,  or  the 
command  of  strong  and  appropriate  language? 

If  these  be  the  qualities  of  the  orator,  it  is  very  easy  to  un 
derstand  how  they  may  be  improved  by  the  discipline  of  the 
closet  ;*  but  not  so  easy  to  comprehend  how  they  can  possibly 
be  injured  by  it.  Is  there  any  danger  that  this  discipline  will 
tame  too  much  the  fiery  spirit,  the  enchanting  wildness,  and 
magnificent  irregularity  of  the  orator's  genius  ?  The  example 
of  Demosthenes  alone  is  a  sufficient  answer  to  this  question; 
and  the  reader  will,  at  once,  recall  numerous  other  examples, 
corroborative  of  the  same  truth,  both  in  ancient  and  modern 
times. 

The  truth  seems  to  be,  that  this  rare  union  of  talents  results, 
not  from  any  incongruity  in  their  nature,  bnt  from  defective  edu 
cation,  taking  this  word  in  its  larger,  Roman  sense.  If  the 
genius  of  the  orator  has  been  properly  trained  in  his  youth  to 
both  pursuits,  instead  of  being  injured,  it  will,  I  apprehend,  be 
found  to  derive  additional  grace,  beauty,  and  even  sublimity, 
from  the  discipline.  His  flights  will  be  at  least  as  bold — they 
will  be  better  sustained — and  whether  he  chooses  to  descend 
in  majestic  circles,  or  to  stoop  on  headlong  wing,  his  perform 
ance  will  not  be  the  worse  for  having  been  taught  to  fly. 

For  Mr.  Henry  and  for  the  world,  it  happened  unfortunately, 
that  instead  of  the  advantage  of  this  Roman  education,  of  which 
we  have  spoken,  the  years  of  his  youth  had  been  wasted  in  idle 
ness.  He  had  become  celebrated  as  an  orator  before  he  had 
learned  to  compose ;  and  it  is  not  therefore  wonderful,  that 
when  withdrawn  from  the  kindling  presence  of  the  crowd,  he 
was  called  upon  for  the  first  time  to  take  the  pen,  all  the  spirit 
and  flame  of  his  genius  were  extinguished,! 

*  Nulla  enim  res  tantum  ad  dicendum  proficit,  quantum  scriptio.— Cic. 
BRUT.  xxiv.  92. 

t  On  this  subject,  of  the  rare  union  of  the  talents  of  breaking  and  writing 
in  the  same  man,  Cicero  has  a  parallel  between  Galba  and  Laelius,  which  is 
not  less  just  than  it  is  beautiful.  After  having  spoken  of  Galba  as  one  of 
those  men  of  great  but  less  cultivated  natural  powers,  who  were  afraid  of  low 
ering  the  fame  of  their  eloquence  by  submitting  their  writings  to  the  world,  he 
^proceeds  thus  : — "  Quern  (Galbam)  fortasse  vis  non  ingenii  solum,  sed  etiam 
animi,  et  naturalis  quidam  dolor  dicentem  incendebat,  effeciebatque,  ut  et  inci- 
tata,  et  gravis,  et  vehemens  esset  oratio  :  dein,  cum  otiosus  stilum  prehende- 
rat,  motusque  omnis  animi,  tanquam  ventus,  hominem  defecerat,  flacessebat 
oratio :  quod  iis,  qui  limatius  dicendi  consectantur  genus,  accidero  non  solet,, 
propterea  quod  prudentia  nunquarn  deficit  oratorem,  qua  ille  utens,  eodem  mo~ 
do  possit  et  dicere  et  scribere  ;  ardor  animi  non  semper  adest,  isque  cum  COJBK 
sedit,  omnis  ilia  vis  et  quasi  flamma  oratoris  extinguitur.  Hanc  igitur  ob 


PATRICK    HENRY.  87 

But  while,  with  reference  to  his  own  fame  and  the  lasting 
Benefits  which  he  might  have  conferred  on  the  world,  we 
lament  his  want  of  literary  discipline,  it  is  not  impossible  that, 
for  the  times  in  which  he  lived,  and  for  the  more  .immediate 
purpose  of  the  American  revolution,  the  popular  opinion  may 
be  correct. 

The  people  seem  to  have  admired  him  the  more  for  his  want 
of  discipline.  "  His  genius,"  they  say,  "  was  unbroken,  and 
too  full  of  fire,  to  bear  the  curb  of  composition.  He  delighted 
to  swim  the  flood,  to  breast  the  torrent,  and  to  scale  the  mount 
ain  :  and  supported  as  he  was,  in  all  public  bodies,  by  mas 
ters  of  the  pen,  they  insist  that  it  was  even  fortunate  for 
the  revolution,  that  his  genius  was  left  at  large  to  revel  in  all 
the  wildness  and  boldness  of  nature  ;  that  it  enabled  him  to  in- 

causam,  videtur  Laelii  mens  spirare  etiam  in  scriptis,  Galbae  autem,  vis  occi- 
disse."  BRUTUS,  xxiv.  93. 

There  seems  to  have  been  a  strong  resemblance  between  the  structure  of 
Gaiba's  eloquence  arid  character,  and  those  of  Mr.  Henry.  In  their  habitsr 
however,  there  was  this  striking  difference,  that  Gaiba's  preparation  for  speak 
ing  was  always  most  elaborate  ;  Mr.  Henry's,  generally,  none  at  all.  On  this 
head,  of  Gaiba's  anxious  preparation,  Cicero  gives  us  a  very  interesting  anec 
dote  :  L&lius,  it  seems,  was  engaged  in  a  great  cause,  in  which  he  spoke  with 
the  peculiar  elegance  which  always  distinguished  him  ;  but  not  having  suc 
ceeded  in  convincing  his  judges,  the  case  was  adjourned  to  another  day,  and  a 
new  argument  was  called  for.  Laelius  again  appeared,  and  surpassed  his  for 
mer  exertions,  but  with  the  same  result,  of  another  adjournment  and  a  call  for 
re-argument.  His  clients  attended  him  to  his  house  on  the  rising  of  the 
court,  expressed  their  gratitude  in  the  strongest  terms,  and  begged  that  he 
would  not  permit  himself  to  be  wearied  into  a  desertion  of  them.  To  this 
Lselius  answered,  that  what  he  had  done  for  the  support  of  the  cause,  had,  in 
deed,  been  diligently  and  accurately  performed  ;  but  he  was  satisfied  that  that 
cause  could  be  better  defended  by  the  more  bold  and  vehement  eloquence  of 
Galba. 

Galba  was  accordingly  applied  to  ;  but  was,  at  first,  startled  at  the  idea  of 
succeeding  such  an  orator  as  Laelius  in  any  cause  ;  more  especially,  on  the 
short  time  for  preparation  that  was  then  allowed  him.  He  yielded,  however, 
to  their  importunities  ;  and  employed  the  whole  of  the  intermediate  day  and 
the  morning  of  that  in  which  the  court  was  to  sit,  in  studying  and  annotating, 
with  the  help  of  his  amanuensis.  When  the  hour  of  court  arrived,  his  clients 
called  for  him,  and  Galba  came  out,  "  with  that  complexion  and  those  eyes," 
says  Cicero,  "  which  would  have  led  you  to  suppose  that  he  had  been  engaged 
in  pleading  a  cause,  and  not  in  studying  it."  Whence  it  appears  that  Galba 
was  not  less  vehement  and  inflamed  in  meditating,  than  in  the  act  of  deliver 
ing  a  speech.  His  success  was  proportioned  to  his  preparation.  "  In  the 
midst  of  the  greatest  expectation,  surrounded  by  a  vast  concourse  of  hearers, 
before  Lselius  himself,  he  plead  the  cause  with  so  much  force  and  so  much 
power,  that  no  part  of  his  speech  passed  without  applause,  and  his  clients 
were  discharged,  with  the  approbation  of  every  one."  What  an  impression 
does  this  give  us  of  the  magnanimity  of  Laelius,  as  well  as  the  abilities  of 
Galba !  Mr.  Henry  would  not  have  taken  the  trouble  of  Gaiba's  preparation  •> 
but  he  would  have  gained  the  cause,  if  hnman  abilities  could  have  gained  it. 


88  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

fuse,  more  successfully,  his  own  intrepid  spirit  into  the  meas 
ures  of  the  revolution  ;  that  it  rendered  his  courage  more  con 
tagious,  and  enabled  him  to  achieve,  by  a  kind  of  happy  rash 
ness,  what  perhaps  had  been  lost  by  a  better  regulated  mind." 

But  to  resume  our  narrative  :  congress  arose  in  October,  and 
Mr.  Henry  returned  to  his  native  county.  Here,  as  was  nat 
ural,  he  was  surrounded  by  his  neighbours,  who  were  eager  tc 
hear  not  only  what  had  been  done,  but  what  kind  of  men  had 
composed  that  illustrious  body. 

He  answered  their  inquiries  with  all  his  wonted  kind 
ness  and  candour;  and  having  been  asked  by  one  of  them, 
"whom  he  thought  the  greatest  man  in  congress,"  he  replied  : 
"  If  you  speak  of  eloquence,  Mr.  Rutledge,  of  South  Carolina, 
is  by  far  the  greatest  orator  ;  but  if  you  speak  of  solid  informa 
tion  and  sound  judgment,  Colonel  Washington  is,  unquestion 
ably,  the  greatest  man  on  that  floor."  Such  was  the  penetra 
tion  which,  at  that  early  period  of  Mr.  Washington's  life,  could 
pierce  through  his  retiring  modesty  and  habitual  reserve,  and 
estimate  so  correctly  the  unrivalled  worth  of  his  character. 

On  Monday,  the  twentieth  of  March,  seventeen  hundred  and 
seventy-live,  the  convention  of  delegates,  from  the  several 
counties  and  corporations  of  Virginia,  met  for  the  second  time. 
This  assembly  was  held  in  the  old  church  in  the  town  of  Rich 
mond.  Mr.  Henry  was  a  member  of  that  body  also.  The 
reader  will  bear  in  mind,  the  tone  of  the  instructions  given  by 
the  convention  of  the  preceding  year  to  their  deputies  in  con 
gress. 

He  will  remember  that,  while  they  recite  with  great  feeling 
the  series  of  grievances  under  which  the  colonies  had  laboured, 
and  insist  with  firmness  on  their  constitutional  rights,  they 
give,  nevertheless,  the  most  explicit  and  solemn  pledge  of  their 
faith  and  true  allegiance  to  his  majesty  King  George  III.,  and 
avow  their  determination  to  support  him  with  their  lives  and 
fortunes,  in  the  legal  exercise  of  all  his  just  rights  and  prerog 
atives.  He  will  remember,  that  these  instructions  contain  also, 
an  expression  of  their  sincere  approbation  of  a  connexion  with 
Great  Britain,  and  their  ardent  wishes  for  a  return  of  that 
friendly  intercourse  from  which  this  country  had  derived  so 
much  prosperity  and  happiness. 

These  sentiments  still  influenced  many  of  the  leading  mem 
bers  of  the  convention  of  seventeen  hundred  and  seventy-five. 
They  could  not  part  with  the  fond  hope  that  those  peaceful  days 
would  again  return  which  had  shed  so  much  light  and  warmth 
over  the  land ;  and  the  report  of  the  king's  gracious  reception 
of  the  petition  from  congress  tended  to  cherish  and  foster  that 
hope,  and  to  render  them  averse  to  any  means  of  violence. 


PATRICK    HENRY.  89 

But  Mr.  Henry  saw  things  with  a  steadier  eye  and  a  deeper 
insight.  His  judgment  was  too  solid  to  be  duped  by  appear 
ances  ;  and  his  heart  too  firm  and  manly  to  be  amused  by  false 
and  flattering  hopes.  He  had  long  since  read  the  true  charac 
ter  of  the  British  court,  and  saw  that  no  alternative  remained 
for  his  country  but  abject  submission  or  heroic  resistance.  It 
was  not  for  a  soul  like  Henry's  to  hesitate  between  these 
courses. 

He  had  offered  upon  the  altar  of  liberty  no  divided  heart. 
The  gulf  of  war  which  yawned  before  him  was  indeed  fiery  and 
fearful;  but  he  saw  that  the  awful  plunge  was  inevitable.  The 
body  of  the  convention,  however,  hesitated.  They  cast  around 
"a  longing,  lingering  look"  on  those  flowery  fields  on  which 
peace,  and  ease,  and  joy,  were  still  sporting ;  and  it  required 
all  the  energies  of  a  Mentor  like  Henry  to  push  them  from  the 
precipice,  and  conduct  them  over  the  stormy  sea  of  the  revo 
lution,  to  liberty  and  glory. 

The  convention  being  formed  and  organized  for  business, 
proceeded  in  the  first  place,  to  express  their  unqualified  appro 
bation  of  the  measures  of  congress,  and  to  declare  that  they 
considered  "  this  whole  continent  as  under  the  highest  obliga 
tions  to  that  respectable  body,  for  the  wisdom  of  their  counsels, 
and  their  unremitted  endeavours  to  maintain  and  preserve 
inviolate  the  just  rights  and  liberties  of  his  majesty's  dutiful 
and  loyal  subjects  in  America." 

They  next  resolve,  that  "  the  warmest  thanks  of  the  conven 
tion,  and  of  all  the  inhabitants  of  this  colony,  were  due,  and  that 
this  just  tribute  of  applause  be  presented  to  the  worthy  del 
egates,  deputed  by  a  former  convention  to  represent  this  colony 
in  general  congress,  for  their  cheerful  undertaking  and  faithful 
discharge  of  the  very  important  trust  reposed  in  them." 

The  morning  of  the  twenty-third  of  March  was  opened,  by 
reading  a  petition  and  memorial  from  the  assembly  of  Jamaica, 
to  the  king's  most  excellent  majesty  :  whereupon  it  was — 
"  Resolved,  That  the  unfeigned  thanks  and  most  grateful  ac 
knowledgments  of  the  convention  be  presented  to  that  very 
respectable  assembly,  for  the  exceeding  generous  and  affection 
ate  part  they  have  so  nobly  taken  in  the  unhappy  contest  be 
tween  Great  Britain  and  her  colonies  ;  and  for  their  truly  pa 
triotic  endeavours  to  fix  the  just  claims  of  the  colonists  upon 
the  most  permanent  constitutional  principles  : — that  the  assem 
bly  be  assured,  that  it  is  the  most  ardent  wish  of  this  colony, 
[and  they  were  persuaded  of  the  whole  continent  of  North 
America. 1  to  see  a  speedy  return  of  those  halcyon  days,  when 
we  lived  a  free  and  happy  people." 

Ttase  proceedings  were  not  adapted  to  the  taste  of  Mr. 

8* 


90  WIRT  8    LIFE    OF 

Henry ;  or.  the  contrary,  they  were  "  gall  and  wormwood"  to 
him.  The  house  required  to  be  wrought  up  to  a  bolder  tone. 
He  rose,  therefore,  and  moved  the  following  manly  resolu 
tions  : — 

**  Resolved,  That  a  well-regulated  militia,  composed  of  gen 
tlemen  and  yeomen,  is  the  natural  strength  and  only  security 
of  a  free  government ;  that  such  a  militia  in  this  colony  would 
for  ever  render  it  unnecessary  for  the  mother-country  to  keep 
among  us,  for  the  purpose  of  our  defence,  any  standing  army 
of  mercenary  soldiers,  always  subversive  of  the  quiet,  and  dan-* 
gerous  to  the  liberties  of  the  people,  and  would  obviate  the  pre-. 
text  of  taxing  us  for  their  support. 

"  That  the  establishment  of  such  militia  is,  at  this  time,  pecu-. 
liarly  necessary,  by  the  state  of  our  laws,  for  the  protection, 
and  defence  of  the  country,  some  of  which  are  already  expired, 
and  others  will  shortly  be  so  :  and  that  the  known  remissness* 
of  government  in  calling  us  together  in  legislative  capacity, 
renders  it  too  insecure,  in  this  time  of  danger  and  distress,  to 
rely  that  opportunity  will  be  given  of  renewing  them,  in  gen-, 
eral  assembly,  or  making  any  provision  to  secure  our  inesti 
mable  rights  and  liberties,  from  those  further  violations  with 
which  they  are  threatened. 

11  Resolved,  therefore,  That  this  colony  be  immediately  put 
into  a  state  of  defence,  and  that 

be  a  committee  to  prepare  a  plan  for  imbodying,  arming  and 
disciplining  such  a  number  of  men,  as  may  be  sufficient  for 
that  purpose." 

The  alarm  which  such  a  proposition  must  have  given  to 
those  who  had  contemplated  no  resistance  of  a  character  more 
serious  than  petition,  non-importation,  and  passive  fortitude, 
and  who  still  hung  with  suppliant  tenderness  on  the  skirts  of 
Britain,  will  he  readily  conceived  by  the  reflecting  reader.  The 
shock  was  painful.  It  was  almost  general.  The  resolutions 
were  opposed  as  not  only  rash  in  policy,  but  as  harsh  and  well 
nigh  impious  in  point  of  feeling.  Some  of  the  warmest  patriots  of 
the  convention  opposed  them.  Richard  Bland,  Benjamin  Har 
rison,  and  Edmund  Pendleton,  who  had  so  lately  drunk  of  the 
fountain  of  patriotism  in  the  continental  congress,  and  Robert 
C.  Nicholas,  one  of  the  best  as  well  as  ablest  men  and  patriots 
in  the  state,  resisted  them  with  all  their  influence  and  abilities. 

They  urged  the  late  gracious  reception  of  the  congressional 
petition  by  the  throne.  They  insisted  that  national  comity,  and 
much  more  filial  respect,  demanded  the  exercise  of  a  more  dig 
nified  patience.  That  the  sympathies  of  the  parent-country 
were  now  on  our  side.  That  the  friends  of  American  liberty 
in  parliament  were  still  with  us,  and  had,  as  yet,  had  no  cause 


PATRICK    HENRY.  91 

to  blush  for  our  indiscretion.  That  the  manufacturing  interests 
of  Great  Britain,  already  smarting  under  the  effects  of  our  non 
importation,  co-operated  powerfully  toward  our  relief.  That 
the  sovereign  himself  had  relented,  and  showed  that  he  looked 
upon  our  sufferings  with  an  eye  of  pity. 

"Was  this  a  moment,"  they  asked,  "  to  disgust  our  friends, 
to  extinguish  all  the  conspiring  sympathies  which  were  work 
ing  in  our  favour,  to  turn  their  friendship  into  hatred,  their  pity 
into  revenge  ?  And  what  was  there,  they  asked,  in  the  situa 
tion  of  the  colony,  to  tempt  us  to  this  ?  Were  we  a  great  mili 
tary  people  ?  Were  we  ready  for  war  ?  Where  were  our 
stores — where  were  our  arms — where  our  soldiers — where  our 
generals — where  our  money,  the  sinews  of  war  ?  They  were 
nowhere  to  be  found. 

"In  truth,  we  were  poor — we  were  naked — we  were  defence 
less.  And  yet  we  talk  of  assuming  the  front  of  war !  of  assu 
ming  it,  too,  against  a  nation,  one  of  the  most  formidable  in 
the  world  ?  A  nation  ready  and  armed  at  all  points  !  Her 
navies  riding  triumphant  in  every  sea;  her  armies  never  march 
ing  but  to  certain  victory  !  What  was  to  be  the  issue  of  the 
struggle  we  were  called  upon  to  court?  What  could  be  the 
issue,  in  the  comparative  circumstances  of  the  two  countries, 
but  to  yield  up  this  country  an  easy  prey  to  Great  Britain, 
and  to  convert  the  illegitimate  right  which  the  British  par 
liament  now  claimed,  into  a  firm  and  indubitable  right,  by 
Conquest ! 

"  The  measure  might  be  brave  ;  but  it  was  the  bravery  of 
madmen.  It  had  no  pretension  to  the  character  of  prudence  ; 
and  as  little  to  the  grace  of  genuine  courage.  It  would  be 
time  enough  to  resort  to  measures  of  despair,  when  every  well- 
founded  hope  had  entirely  vanished." 

To  this  strong  view  of  the  subject,  supported  as  it  was  by 
the  stubborn  fact  of  the  well-known  helpless  condition  of  the 
colony,  the  opponents  of  these  resolutions  superadded  every 
topic  of  persuasion  which  belongs  to  the  cause. 

"  The  strength  and  lustre  which  we  have  derived  from  our 
connexion  with  Great  Britain — the  domestic  comforts  which 
we  had  drawn  from  the  same  source,  and  whose  value  we  were 
now  able  to  estimate  by  their  loss — that  ray  of  reconciliation 
which  was  dawning  upon  us  from  the  east,  and  which  promised 
so  fair  and  happy  a  day: — with  this  they  contrasted  the  clouds 
and  storms  which  the  measure  now  proposed  was  so  well  cal 
culated  to  raise — and  in  which  we  should  not  have  even  the 
poor  consolation  of  being  pitied  by  the  world,  since  we  should 
have  so  needlessly  and  rashly  drawn  them  upon  ourselves." 

These  arguments  and  topics  of  persuasion  were  so  well  jus*. 


92  ,      WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

lifted  by  the  appearance  of  things,  and  were  moreover  so  en 
tirely  in  unison  with  that  love  of  ease  and  quiet  which  is  nat 
ural  to  man,  and  that  disposition  to  hope  for  happier  times, 
even  under  the  most  forbidding  circumstances,  that  an  ordinary 
man,  in  Mr.  Henry's  situation,  would  have  been  glad  to  corn 
pound  with  the  displeasure  of  the  house,  by  being  permitted  to 
withdraw  his  resolutions  in  silence. 

Not  so  Mr.  Henry.  His  was  a  spirit  fitted  to  raise  the 
whirlwind,  as  well  as  to  ride  in  and  direct  it.  His  was  that 
comprehensive  view,  that  unerring  prescience,  that  perfect 
command  over  the  actions  of  men,  which  qualified  him  not 
merely  to  guide,  but  almost  to  create  the  destinies  of  nations. 

He  rose  at  this  time  with  a  majesty  unusual  to  him  in  an  ex 
ordium,  and  with  all  that  self-possession  by  which  he  was  so 
invariably  distinguished.  "No  man,"  he  said,  "  thought  more 
highly  than  he  did  of  the  patriotism,  as  well  as  abilities,  of  the 
very  worthy  gentlemen  who  had  just  addressed  the  house. 
But  different  men  often  saw  the  same  subject  in  different  lights  ; 
and,  therefore,  he  hoped  it  would  not  be  thought  disrespectful 
to  those  gentlemen,  if,  entertaining  as  he  did,  opinions  of  a 
character  very  opposite  to  theirs,  he  should  speak  forth  his 
sentiments  freely,  and  without  reserve. 

"  This,"  he  said,  "  was  no  time  for  ceremony.  The  question 
before  this  house  was  one  of  awful  moment  to  the  country. 
For  his  own  part,  he  considered  it  as  nothing  less  than  a  ques 
tion  of  freedom  or  slavery.  And  in  proportion  to  the  magni 
tude  of  the  subject,  ought  to  be  the  freedom  of  the  debate.  It 
was  only  in  this  way  that  they  could  hope  to  arrive  at  truth, 
tind  fulfil  the  great  responsibility  which  they  held  to  God  and 
their  country.  Should  he  keep  back  his  opinions  at  such  a 
time,  through  fear  of  giving  offence,  he  should  consider  him 
self  as  guilty  of  treason  toward  his  country,  and  of  an  act  of 
disloyalty  toward  the  Majesty  of  heaven,  which  he  revered 
above  all  earthly  kings. 

"Mr.  President,"  said  he,  "it  is  natural  to  man  to  indulge  in 
the  illusions  of  hope.  We  are  apt  to  shut  our  eyes  against  a 
painful  truth — and  listen  to  the  song  of  that  siren,  till  she 
transforms  us  into  beasts.  Is  this,"  he  asked,  "  the  part  of 
wise  men,  engaged  in  a  great  and  arduous  struggle  for  liberty  ? 
Were  we  disposed  to  be  of  the  number  of  those,  who  having 
eyes,  see  not,  and  having  ears,  hear  not,  the  things  which  so 
nearly  concern  their  temporal  salvation?  For  his  part,  what 
ever  anguish  of  spirit  it  might  cost,  he  was  willing  to  know  the 
whole  truth ;  to  know  the  worst,  and  to  provide  for  it. 

"  He  had,"  he  said,  "but  one  lamp  by  which  his  feet  were 
guided:  .and  that  was  the  lamp  of  experience.  He  knew  of  no 


PATRICK    HENRY.  93 

Way  of  judging  of  the  future  but  by  the  past.  And  judging  by 
the  past,  he  wished  to  know  what  there  had  been  in  the  con 
duct  of  the  British  ministry  for  the  last  ten  years,  to  justify 
those  hopes  with  which  gentlemen  had  been  pleased  to  solace 
themselves  and  the  house  ?  Is  it  that  insidious  smile  with 
which  our  petition  has  been  lately  received  ?  Trust  it  not,  sir  ; 
it  will  prove  a  snare  to  your  feet.  Suffer  not  yourselves  to  be 
betrayed  with  a  kiss. 

"  Ask  yourselves  how  this  gracious  reception  of  our  petition 
comports  with  those  warlike  preparations  which  cover  our 
waters  and  darken  our  land.  Are  fleets  and  armies  necessary 
to  a  work  of  love  and  reconciliation  ?  Have  we  shown  our 
selves  so  unwilling  to  be  reconciled,  that  force  must  be  called 
in  to  win  back  our  love?  Let  us  not  deceive  ourselves,  sir. 
These  are  the  implements  of  war  and  subjugation — the  last  ar 
guments  to  which  kings  resort. 

"  I  ask  gentlemen,  sir,  what  means  this  martial  array,  if  its 
purpose  be  not  to  force  us  to  submission  ?  Can  gentlemen  as 
sign  any  other  possible  motive  for  it?  Has  Great  Britain  any 
enemy  in  this  quarter  of  the  world,  to  call  for  all  this  accumu 
lation  of  navies  and  armies  ?  No,  sir,  she  has  none.  They 
are  meant  for  us  :  they  can  be  meant  for  no  other.  They  are 
sent  over  to  bind  and  rivet  upon  us  those  chains  which  the 
British  ministry  have  been  so  long  forging.  And  what  have 
we  to  oppose  them  ?  Shall  we  try  argument  ?  Sir,  we  have 
been  trying  that  for  the  last  ten  years.  Have  we  anything 
new  to  offer  upon  the  subject  ?  Nothing.  We  have  held  the 
subject  up  in  every  light  of  which  it  is  capable  ;  but  it  has  been 
all  in  vain.  Shall  we  resort  to  entreaty  and  humble  supplica 
tion  ?  What  terms  shall  we  find,  which  have  not  been  already 
exhausted  ? 

"  Let  us  not,  I  beseech  you,  sir,  deceive  ourselves  longer. 
Sir,  we  have  done  everything  that  could  be  done,  to  avert  the 
storm  which  is  now  coming  on.  We  have  petitioned — we  have 
remonstrated — we  have  supplicated — we  have  prostrated  our 
selves  before  the  throne,  and  have  implored  its  interposition  to 
arrest  the  tyrannical  hands  of  the  ministry  and  parliament. 
Our  petitions  have  been  slighted ;  our  remonstrances  have  pro 
duced  additional  violence  and  insult;  our  supplications  have 
been  disregarded  ;  and  we  have  been  spurned,  with  contempt, 
from  the  foot  of  the  throne. 

"  In  vain,  after  these  things,  may  we  indulge  the  fond  hope 
of  peace  and  reconciliation.  There  is  no  longer  any  room  for 
hope.  If  we  wish  to  be  free — if  we  mean  to  preserve  in 
violate  those  inestimable  privileges  for  which  we  have  been  so 
long  contending — if  we  mean  not  basely  to  abandon  the  noble 


94 

struggle  in  which  we  have  been  so  long  engaged,  and  which 
we  have  pledged  ourselves  never  to  abandon,  until  the  glorious 
object  of  our  contest  shall  be  obtained  ! — we  must  fight ! — I  re 
peat  it,  sir,  we  must  fight ! ! !  An  appeal  to  arms  and  to  the 
God  of  hosts,  is  all  that  is  left  us  !*. 

"  They  tell  us,  sir,"  continued  Mr.  Henry,  "  that  we  are 
weak — unable  to  cope  with  so  formidable  an  adversary.  But 
when  shall  we  be  stronger.  Will  it  be  the  next  week  or  the  next 
year  ?  Will  it  be  when  we  are  totally  disarmed,  and  when  a 
British  guard  shall  be  stationed  in  every  house  ?  Shall  we 
gather  strength  by  irresolution  and  inaction?  Shall  we  acquire  the 
means  of  effectual  resistance  by  lying  supinely  on  our  backs, 
and  hugging  the  delusive  phantom  of  hope,  until  our  enemy 
shall  have  bound  us  hand  and  foot?  Sir,  we  are  not  weak, 
if  we  make  a  proper  use  of  those  means  which  the  God  of  na 
ture  hath  placed  in  our  power. 

"Three  millions  of  people  armed  in  the  holy  cause  of  liberty, 
and  in  such  a  country  as  that  which  we  possess,  are  invincible 
by  any  force  which  our  enemy  can  send  against  us.  Besides, 
sir,  we  shall  not  fight  our  battles  alone.  There  is  a  just  God 
who  presides  over  the  destinies  of  nations,  and  who  will  raise 
up  friends  to  fight  our  battles  for  us.  The  battle,  sir,  is  not  to 
the  strong  alone ;  it  is  to  the  vigilant,  the  active,  the  brave. 
Besides,  sir,  we  have  no  election.  If  we  were  base  enough  to 
desire  it,  it  is  now  too  late  to  retire  from  the  contest.  There 
is  no  retreat  but  in  submission  and  slavery !  Our  chains  are 
forged.  Their  clanking  may  be  heard  on  the  plains  of  Boston  ! 
The  war  is  inevitable — and  let  it  come  ! !  I  repeat  it,  sir,  let  it 
come ! ! ! 

"  It  is  vain,  sir,  to  extenuate  the  matter.  Gentlemen  may 
cry,  peace,  peace — but  there  is  no  peace.  The  war  is  actually 
begun!  The  next  gale  that  sweeps  from  the  north  will  bring 
to  our  ears  the  clash  of  resounding  arms  !  Our  brethren  are 
already  in  the  field!  Why  stand  we  here  idle?  What  is  it 
that  gentlemen  wish  ?  What  would  they  have  ?  Is  life  so 
dear,  or  peace  so  sweet,  as  to  be  purchased  at  the  price  of 
chains  and  slavery  ?  Forbid  it,  Almighty  God  ! — I  know  not 

*  "  Imagine  to  yourself,"  says  my  correspondent,  (Judge  Tucker,)  "  this 
sentence  delivered  with  all  the  calm  dignity  of  Gato,  of  Utica — imagine  to 
yourself  the  Roman  senate,  assembled  in  the  capitol,  when  it  was  entered  by 
the  profane  Gauls,  who,  at  first,  were  awed  by  their  presence,  as  if  they  had 
entered  an  assembly  of  the  gods  !— imagine  that  you  heard  that  Cato  addres 
sing  such  a  senate — imagine  that  you  saw  the  handwriting  on  the  wall  of  Bel- 
shazzar's  palace — imagine  you  heard  a  voice  as  from  heaven  uttering  the 
words  :  '  We  must  fightS  as  the  doom  of  fate,  and  you  may  have  some  idea  of 
the  speaker,  the  assembly  to  whom  he  addressed  himself,  and  the  auditory,  of 
which  I  was  one." 


PATRICK    HENRY.  95 

what  course  others  may  take  ;  but  as  for  me,"  cried  he,  with  both 
his  arms  extended  alofl,  his  brows  knit,  every  feature  marked 
with  the  resolute  purpose  of  his  soul,  and  his  voice  swelled  to 
its  boldest  note  of  exclamation — "  give  me  liberty,  or  give  me 
death  J" 

He  took  his  seat.  No  murmur  of  applause  was  heard.  The 
ejftect  was  too  deep.  After  the  trance  of  a  moment,  several 
members  started  from  their  seats.  The  cry,  "  to  arms  !"  seem 
ed  .to  quiver  on  every  lip,  and  gleam  from  every  eye.  Richard 
H.  Lee  .arose  and  supported  Mr.  Henry,  with  his  usual  spirit 
and  elegance.  But  his  melody  was  lost  amid  the  agitations  of 
that  ocean,  which  the  master-spirit  of  the  storm  had  lifted  up 
on  high.  That  supernatural  yoice  still  sounded  in  their  ears, 
and  shivered  along  their  arteries.  They  heard,  in  every  pause, 
the  cry  of  liberty  or  death.  They  became  impatient  of  speech, 
their  souls  were  on  fire  for  action.* 

The  resolutions  were  adopted  ;  and  Patrick  Henry,  Richard 
H.  Lee,  Robert  C.  Nicholas,  Benjamin  Harrison,  Lemuel  Rid- 
dick,  George  Washington,  Ad.am  Stevens,  Andrew  Lewis,  Will- 
lam  Christian,  Edmund  Pendleton,  Thomas  Jefferson,  and 
Isaac  Zane,  esquires,  were  appointed  a  committee  to  prepare 
the  plan  called  for  by  the  last  resolution. f 

*  Mr.  Randolph,  in  his  manuscript  history,  "has  given  a  most  eloquent  and 
impressive  account  of  this  debate.  Since  these  sheets  were  prepared  for  the 
press,  and  at  the  moment  of  their  departure  from  the  hands  of  the  author,  he 
has  received  from  Chief  Justice  Marshall,  a  note  in  relation  to  the  same  de 
bate,  which  he  thinks  too  interesting  to  suppress.  It  is  the  substance  of  a 
statement  made  to  the  chief  justice  (then  an  ardent  youth,  feeling  a  most  en 
thusiastic  admiration  of  eloquence,  and  panting  for  war)  by  his  father,  who 
was  a  member  of  this  convention.  Mr.  Marshall,  -(the  father,)  after  speaking 
of  Mr.  Henry's  speech,  "  as  one  of  the  most  bold,  vehement,  and  animated 
pieces  of  eloquence  that  had  ever  been  delivered,"  proceeded  to  state,  that 
"he  was  followed  by  Mr.  Richard  H.  Lee,  who  took  a  mcst  interesting  view 
of  our  real  situation.  He  stated  the  force  which  Britain  could  probably  bring 
to  bear  upon  ns,  and  reviewed  our  resources  and  means  of  resistance.  He 
stated  the  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  both  parties,  and  drew  from  this 
statement  auspicious  inferences.  But  he  concluded  with  saying,  admitting  the 
probable  calculations  to  be  against  us,  we  are  assured  in  holy  writ  that  "  the 
race  is  not  to  the  swift,  nor  the  battle  to  the  strong ;  and  if  the  language  of 
genius  may  be  added  to  inspiration,  I  will  say  with  our  immortal  bard : — 

»'< '  Thrice  is  he  armed,  who  hath  his  quarrel  just ! 
And  he  but  flaked,  though  locked  up  in  steel, 
Whose  conscience  with  injustice  is  oppressed!' " 

t  Colonel  Robert  Carter  Nicholas  (although  opposed  like  all  the  older  pa 
triots,  from  the  considerations  which  have  been  stated  in  the  text,  to  resistance 
at  this  particular  point  of  time)  was,  nevertheless,  oue  of  the  firmest  support 
ers  of  the  principles  of  the  revolution.  As  soon,  therefore,  as  the  measure  of 
resistance  was  carried,  in  order  to  give  to  it  the  greatest  effect,  he  rose  and 


96 

The  constitution  of  this  committee  proves,  that  in  those  days 
of  genuine  patriotism  there  existed  a  mutual  and  noble  confi 
dence,  which  deemed  the  opponents  of  a  measure  no  less  wor 
thy  than  its  friends  to  assist  in  its  execution.  A  correspond 
ent,  (Mr.  Jefferson,)  who  bore  himself  a  most  distinguished 
part  in  our  revolution,  in  speaking  of  the  gentlemen  whom  I 
have  just  named,  as  having  opposed  Mr.  Henry's  resolutions, 
and  of  Mr.  Wythe,  who  acted  with  them,  says: — 

"These  were  honest  and  able  men,  who  had  begun  the  op 
position  on  the  same  grounds,  but  with  a  moderation  more 
adapted  to  their  age  arid  experience.  Subsequent  events  fa 
voured  the  bolder  spirits  of  Henry,  the  Lees,  Pages,  Mason, 
<fcc.,  with  whom  I  went  in  all  points.  Sensible,  however,  of 
the  importance  of  unanimity  among  our  constituents,  although 
we  often  wished  to  have  gone  on  faster,  we  slackened  our  pace, 
that  our  less  ardent  colleagues  might  keep  up  with  us  ;  and 
they,  on  their  part,  differing  nothing  from  us  in  principle, 
quickened  their  gait  somewhat  beyond  that  which  their  pru 
dence  might,  of  itself,  have  advised,  and  thus  consolidated 
the  phalanx  which  breasted  the  power  of  Britain.  By  this  har 
mony  of  the  bold  with  the  cautious,  we  advanced,  with  our 
constituents,  in  undivided  mass,  and  with  fewer  examples  of 
separation  than  perhaps  existed  in  any  other  part  of  the  union." 

The  plan  for  imbodying,  arming  and  disciplining  the  militia, 
proposed  by  the  committee  which  has  just  been  mentioned, 
was  received  and  adopted,  and  is  in  the  following  terms  : — 

"  The  committee  propose  that  it  be  strongly  recommended 
to  the  colony,  diligently  to  put  in  execution  the  militia  law 
passed  in  the  year  1738,  entitled,  'An  act  for  the  better  regula 
ting  of  the  militia,'  which  has  become  in  force  by  the  expiration 
of  all  subsequent  militia  laws. 

"  The  committee  are  further  of  opinion,  that  as,  from  the  ex 
piration  of  the  abovementioned  laws,  and  various  other  causes, 
the  legal  and  necessary  disciplining  the  militia  has  been  rmicb 
neglected,  and  a  proper  provision  of  arms  and  ammunition  has 
not  been  made,  to  the  evident  danger  of  the  community,  in 
case  of  invasion  or  insurrection ;  that  it  be  recommended  to 
the  inhabitants  of  the  several  counties  of  this  colony,  that  they- 
form  one  or  more  volunteer  companies  of  infantry  and  troops- 
of  horse  in  each  county,  and  to  be  in  constant,  training  and 
readiness  to  act  on  any  emergency. 

'*  That  it  be  recommended  particularly  to   the  counties  of 

moved  to  change  the  system  ;  and,  instead  of  arming  the  militia,  to  raise  ten 
thousand  regulars  for  the  war ;  but  the  motion  was  overruled.  Chief  Justice. 
Marshall  says  :  "  I  have  frequently  heard  my  father  speak  of  Colonel 
•as's  motion,  to  raise  ten  thousand  men  for  the  war." 


PATRICK    HENRY.  97 

Brunswick,  Dinwiddie,  Chesterfield,  Henrico,  Hanover,  Spot- 
sylvania,  King  George,  and  Stafford,  and  to  all  counties  below 
these,  that,  out  of  such  of  their  volunteers,  they  form,  each  of 
them,  one  or  more  troops  of  horse ;  and  to  all  the  counties 
above  these,  it  is  recommended  that  they  pay  a  more  particular 
attention  to  forming  a  good  infantry. 

*'  That  each  company  of  infantry  consist  of  sixty-eight,  rank 
and  file,  to  be  commanded  by  one  captain,  two  lieutenants,  one 
ensign,  four  sergeants,  and  lour  corporals  ;  and  that  they  have 
a  drummer,  and  be  furnished  with  a  drum  and  colours  ;  that 
every  man  be  provided  with  a  good  rifle,  if  to  be  had,  or  other 
wise  with  a  common  firelock,  bayonet,  and  cartouch-box,  and 
also  with  a  tomahawk,  one  pound  of  gunpowder,  and  four 
pounds  of  ball  at  least,  fitted  to  the  bore  of  his  gun ;  that  he 
be  clothed  in  a  hunting-shirt,  by  way  of  uniform ;  and  that 
he  use  all  endeavour,  as  soon  as  possible,  to  become  acquainted 
with  the  military  exercise  for  infantry,,  appointed  to  be  used  by 
his  majesty  in  the  year  seventeen  hundred  and  sixty-four. 

"  That  each  troop  of  horse  consist  of  thirty,  exclusive  of 
officers  ;  that  every  horseman  be  provided  with  a  good  horse, 
bridle,  saddle,  with  pistols  and  holsters,  a  carbine  or  other 
short  firelock,  with  a  bucket,  a  cutting-sword  or  tomahawk, 
one  pound  of  gunpowder,  and  four  pounds  of  ball,  at  least ; 
and  use  the  utmost  diligence  in  training  and  accustoming  his 
horse  to  stand  the  discharge  of  firearms,  and  in  making  himself 
acquainted  with  the  military  exercise  of  cavalry. 

"  That  in  order  to  make  a  further  and  more  ample  provision 
of  ammunition,  it  be  recommended  to  the  committees  of  the 
several  counties,  that  they  collect  from  their  constituents,  in 
such  manner  as  shall  be  most  agreeable  to  them,  so  much 
money  as  will  be  sufficient  to  purchase  half  a  pound  of  gun 
powder,  one  pound  of  lead,  necessary  flints  and  cartridgepaper, 
for  every  titheable  person  in  their  county ;  that  they  immedi 
ately  take  effectual  measures  for  the  procuring  such  gunpow 
der,  lead,  flints,  and  cartridgepaper,  and  dispose  thereof,  when 
procured,  in  such  place  or  places  of  safety  as  they  may  think 
best :  and  it  is  earnestly  recommended  to  each  individual  to 
pay  such  proportion  of  the  money  necessary  for  these  pur 
poses,  as  by  the  respective  committees  shall  be  judged  requisite. 

"  That  it  may  happen  that  some  counties,  from  their  situa 
tion,  may  not  be  apprized  of  the  most  certain  and  speedy  meth 
od  of  procuring  the  articles  before-mentioned,  one  general  com 
mittee  should  be  appointed,  whose  business  it  should  be,  to 
procure  for  such  counties  as  may  make  application  to  them, 
such  articles,  and  so  much  thereof,  as  the  moneys  wherewith  they 
shall  furnish  the  said  committee  will  purchase,  after  deducting 

9 


98  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

the  charges  of  transportation,  and  other  necessary  expenses." 
At  the  same  session  of  the  convention,  I  find  that  the  alert 
and  inquiring  spirit  of  Mr.  Henry  laid  hold  of  another  instance 
of  royal  misrule. 

Governor  Dunmore,  it  seems,  by  a  recent  proclamation,  had 
declared  that  his  majesty  had  given  orders  for  all  vacant  lands 
within  this  colony  to  be  put  up  in  lots  at  public  sale ;  and  that 
the  highest  bidder  for  such  lots  should  be  the  purchaser  thereof, 
and  should  hold  the  same,  subject  to  a  reservation  of  one  half 
penny  per  acre,  by  way  of  annual  quitrent,  and  of  all  minea  of 
gold,  silver,  and  precious  stones.  These  terms  were  deemed 
an  innovation  on  the  established  usage  of  granting  lands  in 
this  colony ;  and  this  sagacious  politician  saw  in  the  proceed 
ing,  not  only  an  usurpation  of  power,  but  a  great  subduction 
of  the  natural  wealth  of  the  colony,  and  the  creation,  moreover, 
of  a  separate  band  of  tenants  and  retainers,  devoted  to  the  vilest 
measures  of  the  crown.  With  a  view,  therefore,  to  defeat 
this  measure,  he  moved  the  following  resolution,  which  was 
adopted : — 

"  Resolved,  That  a  committee  be  appointed  to  inquire  whether 
his  majesty  may  of  right  advance  the  terms  of  granting  lands 
in  this  colony,  and  make  report  thereof  to  the  next  general  as 
sembly  or  convention  ;  and  that,  in  the  meantime,  it  be  recom 
mended  to  all  persons  whatever,  to  forbear  purchasing  or  ac 
cepting  lands  on  the  conditions  before  mentioned."  Of  this 
committee  he  was  of  course  the  chairman  ;  and  the  other  mem 
bers  were  Richard  Bland,  Thomas  Jefferson,  Robert  C.  Nicho 
las,  and  Edmund  Pendleton,  esquires. 

The  convention  having  adopted  a  plan  for  the  encourage 
ment  of  arts  and  manufactures  in  this  colony,  and  reappointed 
their  former  deputies  to  the  continental  congress,  with  the  sub 
stitution  of  Mr.  Jefferson  for  Mr.  Peyton  Randolph,  in  case  of 
the  non-attendance  of  the  latter  ;*  and  having  also  provided 
for  a  re-election  of  delegates  to  the  next  convention,  came  to  an 
adjournment.  It  is  curious  to  read  in  the  file  of  papers  from 
which  the  foregoing  proceedings  are  extracted,  and  immedi 
ately  following  them,  this  proclamation  of  his  Excellency  Lord 
Dunmore : — 

"  Whereas,  certain  persons,  styling  themselves  delegates  of 
several  of  his  majesty's  colonies  in  America,  have  presumed, 
without  his  majesty's  authority  or  consent,  to  assemble  together 
at  Philadelphia,  in  the  months  of  September  and  October  last, 
and  have  thought  fit,  among  other  unwarrantable  proceedings, 

*  He  was  speaker  of  the  house  of  burgesses,  a  call  of  which  was  expected, 
and  did  accordingly  take  place. 


PATRICK    HENRY.  99 

to  resolve  that  it  wiL  be  necessary  that  another  congress  should 
be  held  at  the  same  place  on  the  tenth  of  May  next,  unless  re 
dress  of  certain  pretended  grievances  be  obtained  before  that 
time  :  and  to  recommend  that  all  the  colonies  of  North  America 
should  choose  deputies  to  attend  such  congress :  /  am  com 
manded  by  the  king,  and  I  do  accordingly  issue  this  my  proc 
lamation,  to  require  all  magistrates  and  other  officers  to  use 
their  utmost  endeavours  to  prevent  any  such  appointment  of 
deputies,  and  to  exhort  all  persons  whatever  within  this  govern 
ment,  to  desist  from  such  an  unjustifiable  proceeding,  so  highly 
displeasing  to  his  majesty." 

This  proclamation  was  published  while  the  convention  was 
in  session,  and  was  obviously  designed  to  have  an  effect  on 
their  proceedings.  It  passed  by  them,  however,  "as  the  idle 
wind  which  they  regarded  not."  The  age  of  proclamations 
was  gone,  and  the  glory  of  regal  governors  pretty  nearly  ex 
tinguished  for  ever. 

It  ought  not  to  be  omitted,  however,  that  this  very  conven 
tion  passed  resolutions  complimentary  to  Lord  Durimore,  and 
the  troops  which  he  had  commanded  in  an  expedition  of  the 
preceding  year  against  the  Indians :  a  compliment  which,  as 
we  shall  see,  was  afterward  found  to  be  unmerited.  As  the 
resolution  in  regard  to  Lord  Dunmore  does  honour  to  the  can 
dour  of  the  convention,  and  shows  also  how  little  personality 
there  was  in  the  contest,  I  take  leave  to  subjoin  it : — 

"Resolved,  unanimously,  That  the  most  cordial  thanks  of 
the  people  of  this  colony  are  a  tribute  justly  due  to  our  worthy 
governor,  Lord  Dunmore,  for  his  truly  noble,  wise,  and  spirited 
conduct,  on  the  late  expedition  against  our  Indian  enemy — a 
conduct  which  at  once  evinces  his  excellency's  attention  to  the 
true  interests  of  this  colony,  and  a  zeal  in  the  executive  depart 
ment  which  no  dangers  can  divert,  or  difficulties  hinder,  from 
achieving  the  most  important  services  to  the  people  who  have 
the  happiness  to  live  under  his  administration." 

Lord  Dunmore  was  not  a  man  of  popular  manners  ;  he  had 
nothing  of  the  mildness,  the  purity,  the  benevolence  and  suav 
ity  of  his  predecessor.  On  the  contrary,  he  is  represented  as 
having  been  rude  and  offensive  ;  coarse  in  his  figure,  his  coun 
tenance  and  his  manners.  Yet  he  received  from  the  house  of 
burgesses  the  most  marked  respect. 

Thus,  in  seventeen  hundred  and  seventy-four,  while  the  lib 
erties  of  the  colonies  were  bleeding  at  every  pore,  and  while 
the  house  was  smarting  severely,  under  the  recent  news  of  the 
occlusion  of  the  port  of  Boston,  they  paid  to  Lady  Dunmore, 
who  had  just  arrived  at  Williamsburgh,  the  most  cordial  and 
elegant  attentions.,  congratulated  his  Lordship  on  this  increase 


100  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

to  his  domestic  felicity ;  and  even,  after  their  abrupt  dissolu 
tion,  complimented  the  inhabitants  of  the  palace  with  a  splendid 
ball  and  entertainment,  in  honour  of  the  arrival  of  the  Count 
ess  Dunmore  and  her  family. 


CHAPTER  V. 

The  Export  of  Powder  from  Great  Britain  prohibited — Seizure  of  the  Military 
Stores  in  Massachusetts  and  other  Colonies — Magazine  at  Williamsburgh 
plundered  by  Order  of  Governor  Dunmore — Address  of  the  Common  Coun 
cil — Lord  Dunmore's  Reply — Excitement  occasioned  by  the  Proceedings — 
Mr-  Henry's  View  as  to  the  Result  of  these  Events — He  is  invested  with  the 
Command  of  the  Hanover  Volunteers  and  marches  for  Williamsburgh — 
The  Affair  of  the  Powder  Compromised — Lord  Dunmore's  Proclamation 
against  Mr.  Henry. 

THE  storm  of  the  revolution  now  began  to  thicken.  The 
cloud  of  war  had  actually  burst  on  the  New  England  states, 
while  as  yet  the  middle  and  southern  colonies  were  in  compar 
ative  repose.  The  calm,  however,  was  deceitful,  and  of  short 
duration  ;  and,  as  far  as  Virginia  was  concerned,  had  been  oc 
casioned  rather  by  the  absence  of  Governor  Dunmore  on  an 
Indian  expedition,  than  any  disposition  on  his  part  to  favour 
the  colony.  His  return  to  Williamsburgh  was  the  signal  for 
violence. 

It  seems  to  have  been  a  matter  of  concert  among  the  colonial 
governors,  if  indeed  the  policy  was  not  dictated  by  the  British 
court,  to  disarm  the  people  of  all  the  colonies  at  one  and  the 
same  time,  and  thus  incapacitate  them  for  united  resistance. 

To  give  effect  to  this  measure,  the  export  of  powder  from 
Great  Britain  was  prohibited  ;  and  an  attempt  was  generally 
made  about  the  same  period  to  seize  the  powder  and  arms  in 
the  several  provincial  magazines.  Gage,  the  successor  of 
Hutchinson  in  the  government  of  Massachusetts,  set  the  exam 
ple,  by  a  seizure  of  the  ammunition  and  military  stores  at  Cam 
bridge,  and  the  powder  in  the  magazines  at  Charlestown,  and 
other  places.  His  example  was  followed  by  similar  attempts 
in  other  colonies  to  the  north. 

And  on  Thursday,  the  twentieth  of  April,  seventeen  hundred 
and  seventy-five,  Captain  Henry  Collins,  of  the  armed  schooner 
Magdalen,  then  lying  at  Burwell's  ferry,  on  James  river,  came 
up  at  the  head  of  a  body  of  marines,  and,  acting  under  the  or 
ders  of  Lord  Dunmore,  entered  the  city  of  Williamsburgh  in 


PATRICK    HENRY.  101 

the  dead  of  the  night,  and  carried  off  from  the  public  maga 
zine  about  twenty  barrels  of  powder,  which  he  placed  on  board 
his  schooner  before  the  break  of  day. 

Clandestine  as  the  movement  had  been,  the  alarm  was  given 
to  the  inhabitants  early  on  the  next  morning.  Their  exaspera 
tion  may  be  easily  conceived.  The  town  was  in  tumult.  A 
considerable  body  of  them  flew  to  arms,  with  the  determination 
to  compel  Captain  Collins  to  restore  the  powder.  With  much 
difficulty,  however,  they  were  restrained  by  the  graver  inhab 
itants  of  the  town,  and  by  the  members  of  the  common  council, 
who  assured  them  that  proper  measures  should  be  immediately 
used  to  produce  a  restoration  of  the  powder,  without  the  effu 
sion  of  human  blood.  The  council,  therefore,  met  in  their  cor 
porate  character,  and  addressed  the  following  letter  to  Gov 
ernor  Dunmore : — 

"  To  his  Excellency  the  Right  Honourable  John,  Earl  of  Dun- 
more,  his  majesty's  lieutenant,  governor-general,  and  com' 
mander-in-chief  of  the  colony  and  dominion  of  Virginia : — 
The  humble  address  of  the  mayor,  recorder,  aldermen,  and 
common  council  of  the  city  of  Williamsburgh  : — 
44  My  Lord — We,  his  majesty's  dutiful  and  loyal  subjects, 
the  mayor,  recorder,  aldermen  and  common  council  of  the  city 
of  Williamsburgh,  in  common    hall   assembled,  humbly  beg 
leave  to  represent  to  your  excellency,  that  the  inhabitants  of 
this  city  were  this  morning  exceedingly  alarmed  by  a  report 
that  a  large  quantity  of  gunpowder  was,  in  the  preceding  night, 
while  they  were  sleeping  in  their  beds,  removed  from  the  pub 
lic  magazine  in  this  city,  and  conveyed  under  an  escort  of  ma 
rines,  on  board  one  of  his  majesty's  armed  vessels  lying  at  a 
ferry  on  James  river. 

"  We  beg  leave  to  represent  to  your  excellency,  that,  as  the 
magazine  was  erected  at  the  public  expense  of  this  colony,  and 
appropriated  to  the  safe-keeping  of  such  munition  as  should  be 
there  lodged,  from  time  to  time,  for  the  protection  and  security  of 
the  country,  by  arming  thereout  such  of  the  militia  as  might  be 
necessary  in  cases  of  invasions  and  insurrections,  they  humbly 
conceive  it  to  be  the  only  proper  repository  to  be  resorted  to 
in  times  of  imminent  danger. 

"  We  further  beg  leave  to  inform  your  excellency,  that  from 
various  reports  at  present  prevailing  in  different  parts  of  the 
country,  we  have  too  much  reason  to  believe  that  some  wicked 
and  designing  persons  have  instilled  the  most  diabolical  no 
tions  into  the  minds  of  our  slaves ;  and  that,  therefore,  the  utmost 
attention  to  our  internal  security  is  become  the  more  necessary. 
"The  circumstances  of  this  city,  my  lord,  we  consider  as 
peculiar  and  critical.  The  inhabitants,  from  the  situation.  ff 


102  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

the  magazine  in  the  midst  of  their  city,  have  for  a  long  tract  of 
time,  been  exposed  to  all  those  dangers  which  have  happened 
in  many  countries  from  explosions  and  other  accidents.  They 
have,  from  time  to  time,  thought  it  incumbent  on  them  to  guard 
the  magazine.  For  their  security  they  have,  for  some  time 
past,  judged  it  necessary  to  keep  strong  patrols  on  foot ;  in 
their  present  circumstances,  then,  to  have  the  chief  and  ne 
cessary  means  of  their  defence  removed,  cannot  but  be  extreme 
ly  alarming. 

"  Considering  ourselves  as  guardians  of  the  city,  we  there 
fore  humbly  desire  to  be  informed  by  your  excellency,  upon 
what  motives,  and  for  what  particular  purpose,  the  powder  has 
been  carried  off  in  such  a  manner ;  and  we  earnestly  entreat 
your  excellency  to  order  it  to  be  immediately  returned  to  the 
magazine." 

To  which  his  excellency  returned  this  verbal  answer: — 
that  "  hearing  of  an  insurrection  in  a  neighbouring  county,  he 
had  removed  the  powder  from  the  magazine,  where  he  did  not 
think  it  secure,  to  a  place  of  perfect  security  ;  and  that,  upon 
his  word  and  honour,  whenever  it  was  wanted  on  any  insurrec 
tion,  it  should  be  delivered  in  half  an  hour ;  that  he  had  re 
moved  it  in  the  night-time,  to  prevent  any  alarm,  and  that  Cap 
tain  Collins  had  his  express  commands  for  the  part  he  had 
acted ;  he  was  surprised  to  hear  the  people  were  under  arms 
on  this  occasion,  and  that  he  should  not  think  it  prudent  to  put 
powder  into  their  hands  in  such  a  situation." 

This  conditional  promise  of  the  return  of  the  powder,  sup 
ported  by  the  influence  of  Mr.  Peyton  Randolph,  Mr.  Robert 
C.  Nicholas,  and  other  characters  of  weight,  had  the  effect,  it 
seems,  of  quieting  the  inhabitants  for  that  day.  On  the  suc 
ceeding  night,  however,  a  new  alarm  took  place,  on  a  report 
that  a  number  of  armed  men  had  again  landed  from  the  Magda 
len,  about  four  miles  below  the  city,  with  a  view,  it  was  pre 
sumed,  of  making  another  visit  of  nocturnal  plunder.  The  in 
habitants  again  flew  to  arms ;  but,  on  the  interposition  of  the 
same  eminent  citizens,  the  ferment  was  allayed,  and  nothing 
more  was  done  than  to  strengthen  the  usual  patrol  for  the  de 
fence  of  the  city. 

On  the  next  day,  Saturday  the  twenty-second  of  April,  when 
everything  was  perfectly  quiet,  Lord  Dunmore,  with  rather 
more  heat  than  discretion,  sent  a  message  into  the  city,  by  one 
of  the  magistrates,  and  which  his  lordship  had  delivered  with 
the  most  solemn  asseverations,  that  if  any  insult  were  offered 
to  Captain  Foy,  (a  British  captain  residing  at  the  palace,  as 
his  secretary,  and  considered  to  be  the  instigator  of  the  gov 
ernor  to  his  violences,)  or  to  Captain  Collins,  he  would  declare 


PATRICK    HENRY.  103 

freedom  to  the  slaves,  and  lay  the  town  in  ashes;  and  he  add 
ed,  that  he  could  easily  depopulate  the  whole  country.  At 
this  time,  both  Captains  Foy  and  Collins  were  and  had  been 
continually  walking  the  streets,  at  their  pleasure,  without 
the  slightest  indication  of  disrespect.  The  effect  of  a  threat, 
so  diabolically  ferocious,  directed  toward  the  people  who  had 
ever  shown  him  and  his  family  such  enthusiastic  marks  of  re 
spect  and  attention,  and  following  so  directly  the  plunder  of 
the  magazine,  will  be  readily  conceived.  Yet  it  broke  not  out 
into  any  open  act.  His  lordship  remained  unmolested  even  by 
a  disrespectful  look.  The  augmented  patrol  was  kept  up  ;  but 
no  defensive  preparation  was  made  by  the  inhabitants  of  the 
city. 

The  transactions  which  were  passing  in  the  metropolis  circu 
lated  through  the  country  with  a  rapidity  proportioned  to  their 
interests,  and  with  this  farther  aggravation,  which  was  also 
true  in  point  of  fact,  that  in  addition  to  the  clandestine  removal 
of  the  powder,  the  governor  had  caused  the  muskets  in  the 
magazine  to  be  stripped  of  their  locks. 

In  the  midst  of  the  irritation  excited  by  this  intelligence, 
came  the  news  of  the  bloody  battles  of  Lexington  and  Con 
cord,  resulting  from  an  attempt  of  the  governor-general  Gage, 
to  seize  the  military  stores  deposited  at  the  latter  place.  The 
system  of  colonial  subjugation  was  now  apparent :  the  effect 
was  instantaneous.  The  whole  country  flew  to  arms.  The 
independent  companies,  formed  in  happier  times  for  the  pur 
pose  of  military  discipline,  and  under  the  immediate  auspices 
of  Lord  Dunmore  himself,  raised  the  standard  of  liberty  in 
every  county. 

By  the  twenty-seventh  of  April,  there  was  assembled  at 
Fredericksburgh  upward  of  seven  hundred  men  well-armed  and 
disciplined,  "  friends  of  constitutional  liberty  and  America." 
Their  march,  however,  was  arrested  by  a  letter  from  Mr.  Pey 
ton  Randolph,  in  reply  to  an  express,  and  received  on  the 
twenty-ninth,  by  which  they  were  informed  that  the  gentlemen 
of  the  city  and  neighbourhood  of  Williamsburgh,  had  had  full 
assurance  from  his  excellency,  that  the  affair  of  the  powder 
should  be  accommodated,  and  advising  that  the  gentlemen  of 
Fredericksburgh  should  proceed  no  farther. 

On  the  receipt  of  this  letter,  a  council  was  held  of  one  hun 
dred  and  two  members,  delegates  of  the  provincial  convention, 
and  officers  and  special  deputies  of  fourteen  companies  of  light-, 
horse,  then  rendezvoused  on  the  ground ;  who,  after  the  most 
spirited  expression  of  their  sentiments  on  the  conduct  of  the 
governor,  and  after  giving  a  mutual  pledge  to  be  in  readines* 
at  a  moment's  warning,  to  reassemble,  and  by  force  of  arras 


104  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

to  defend  the  laws,  the  liberty,  and  rights  of  this  or  any  sister- 
colony  from  unjust  and  wicked  invasion,  advised  the  return  of 
the  several  companies  to  their  respective  homes  ;  and  also  or 
dered  that  expresses  should  be  despatched  to  the  troops  assem 
bled  at  the  Bowling  Green,  and  also  to  the  companies  from 
Frederick,  Berkley,  Dunmore,  and  such  other  counties  as  were 
then  on  their  march,  to  return  them  thanks  for  their  cheerful 
offers  of  service,  and  to  acquaint  them  with  the  determination 
then  taken.  By  way  of  parody  on  the  governor's  conclusion 
of  the  proclamations,  by  which  he  was  striving  to  keep  down 
the  spirit  of  the  country,  "  God  save  the  king,"  the  council  con 
cluded  their  address  with  "  God  save  the  liberties  of  America.'* 

Mr.  Henry,  however,  was  not  disposed  to  let  this  incident 
pass  off  so  lightly.  His  was  a  mind  that  watched  events  with 
the  coolness  and  sagacity  of  a  veteran  statesman.  He  kindled,, 
indeed,  in  the  universal  indignation  which  the  conduct  of  the 
governor  was  so  well  calculated  to  excite ;  seeing  clearly  the 
inconvenience  which  the  colony  must  experience  in  the  ap 
proaching  contest,  from  the  loss  of  even  that  small  store  of  am 
munition.  This,  however,  was  a  minor  object  in  his  esteem. 

What  he  deemed  of  much  higher  importance  was,  that  that 
blow,  which  must  be  struck  sooner  or  later,  should  be  struck  at 
once,  before  an  overwhelming  force  should  enter  the  colony  ;• 
that  that  habitual  deference  and  subjection  which  the  people- 
were  accustomed  to  feel  toward  the  governor,  as  the  represent 
ative  of  royalty,  and  which  bound  their  spirits  in  a  kind  of  tor 
pid  spell,  should  be  dissolved  and  dissipated  ;  that  the  military 
resources  of  the  country  should  be  developed  ;  that  the  people 
might  see  and  feel  their  strength  by  being  brought  out  togeth 
er  :  that  the  revolution  should  be  set  in  actual  motion  in  the 
colony  ;  that  the  martial  prowess  of  the  country  should  be 
awakened,  and  the  soldiery  animated  by  that  proud  and  reso 
lute  confidence,  which  a  successful  enterprise  in  the  commence 
ment  of  a  contest  never  fails  to  inspire. 

These  sentiments  were  then  avowed  by  him  to  two  confiden 
tial  friends  ;*  to  whom  he  farther  declared  that  he  considered 
the  outrage  on  the  magazine  a  most  fortunate  circumstance  ; 
and  as  owe  which  would  rouse  the  people  from  north  to  south. 
"You  may  in  vain  talk  to  them,"  said  he,  "about  the  duties- 
on  tea,  &c.  These  things  will  not  affect  them.  They  depend 
on  principles  too  abstracted  for  their  apprehension  and  feeling. 
But  tell  them  of  the  robbery  of  the  magazine,  and  that  the  next 
step  will  be  to  disarm  them,  you  bring  the  subject  home  to 

*  Colonel  Richard  Morris  and  Captain  George  Dabney ;  on  the  authority 
of  Mr,  Dabney. 


PATRICK    HENRY.  105 

their  bosoms,  and  they  will  be  ready  to  fly  to  arms  to  defend 
theriselves." 

To  make  of  this  circumstance  all  the  advantage  which  he 
contemplated,  as  soon  as  the  intelligence  reached  him  from 
Williamsburgh,  he  sent  express-riders  to  the  members  of  the 
Independent  Company  of  Hanover,  who  were  dispersed  and 
resided  in  different  parts  of  the  country,  requesting  them  to 
meet  him  in  arms,  at  New  Castle,  on  the  second  of  May,  on 
business  of  the  highest  importance  to  American  liberty.  In 
order  to  give  greater  dignity  and  authority  to  the  decisions  of 
that  meeting,  he  convoked  to  the  same  place  the  county  com 
mittee. 

When  assembled,  he  addressed  them  with  all  the  powers  of 
his  eloquence  ;  laid  open  the  plan  on  which  the  British  minis 
try  had  fallen  to  reduce  the  colonies  to  subjection,  by  robbing 
them  of  all  the  means  of  defending  their  rights  ;  spread  before 
their  eyes,  in  colours  of  vivid  description,  the  fields  of  Lexing 
ton  and  Concord,  still  floating  with  the  blood  of  their  country 
men,  gloriously  shed  in  the  general  cause ;  showed  them  that  the 
recent  plunder  of  the  magazine  in  Williamsburgh  was  nothing 
more  than  a  part  of  the  general  system  of  subjugation  ;  that 
the  moment  was  now  come  in  which  they  were  called  upon  to 
decide,  whether  they  chose  to  live  free,  and  hand  down  the 
noble  inheritance  to  their  children,  or  to  become  hewers  of 
wood,  and  drawers  of  water  to  those  lordlings,  who  were  them 
selves  the  tools  of  a  corrupt  and  tyrannical  ministry — he  paint 
ed  the  country  in  a  state  of  subjugation,  and  drew  such  pictures 
of  wretched  debasement  and  abject  vassalage,  as  filled  their 
souls  with  horror  and  indignation — on  the  other  hand,  he  ear 
ned  them,  by  the  powers  of  his  eloquence,  to  an  eminence  like 
Mount  Pisgah ;  showed  them  the  land  of  promise,  which  was 
to  be  won  by  their  valour,  under  the  support  and  guidance  of 
Heaven  ;  and  sketched  a  vision  of  America,  enjoying  the  smiles 
of  liberty  and  peace,  the  rich  productions  of  her  agriculture 
waving  on  every  field,  her  commerce  whitening  every  sea,  in 
teints  so  bright,  so  strong,  so  glowing,  as  set  the  souls  of  his 
hearers  on  fire. 

He  had  no  doubt,  he  said,  that  that  God,  who  in  former  ages 
had  hardened  Pharaoh's  heart,  that  he  might  show  forth  his 
power  and  glory  in  the  redemption  of  his  chosen  people,  had, 
for  similar  purposes,  permitted  the  flagrant  outrages  which  had 
occurred  in  Williamsburgh,  and  throughout  the  continent.  It 
was  for  them  now  to  determine,  whether  they  were  worthy  of 
this  divine  interference ;  whether  they  would  accept  the  high 
boon  now  held  out  to  them  by  Heaven — that  if  they  would, 
though  it  might  lead  them  through  a  sea  of  blood,  they  were 


106  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

to  remember  that  the  same  God  whose  power  divided  the  Red 
sea  for  the  deliverance  of  Israel,  still  reigned  in  all  his  glory, 
unchanged  and  unchangeable — was  still  the  enemy  of  the  op 
pressor,  and  the  friend  of  the  oppressed — that  he  would  cover 
them  from  their  enemies  by  a  pillar  of  cloud  by  day,  and  guide 
their  feet  through  the  night  by  a  pillar  of  fire — that  for  his  own 
part,  he  was  anxious  that  his  native  county  should  distinguish 
itself  in  this  grand  career  of  liberty  and  glory,  and  snatch  the 
noble  prize  which  was  now  offered  to  their  grasp — that  no  time 
was  to  be  lost — that  their  enemies  in  this  colony  were  now  few 
and  weak — that  it  would  be  easy  for  them,  by  a  rapid  and  vig 
orous  movement,  to  compel  the  restoration  of  the  powder 
which  had  been  carried  off,  or  to  make  a  reprisal  on  the  king's 
revenues  in  the  hands  of  the  receiver-general,  which  would 
fairly  balance  the  account — that  the  Hanover  volunteers  would 
thus  have  an  opportunity  of  striking  the  first  blow  in  this  colo 
ny,  in  the  great  cause  of  American  liberty,  and  would  cover 
themselves  with  never-fading  laurels. 

These  were  heads  of  his  harangue.  I  presume  not  to  give 
the  colouring.  That  was  Mr.  Henry's  own,  and  beyond  the 
power  of  any  man's  imitation.  The  effect,  however,  was  equal 
to  his  wishes.  The  meeting  was  in  a  flame,  and  a  decision  im 
mediately  taken,  that  the  powder  should  be  retrieved,  or  coun 
terbalanced  by  a  reprisal. 

Captain  Samuel  Meredith,  who  had  heretofore  commanded 
the  Independent  Company,  resigned  his  commission  in  Mr. 
Henry's  favour,  and  the  latter  gentleman  was  immediately  in 
vested  with  the  chief  command  of  the  Hanover  volunteers.  Mr. 
Meredith  accepted  the  commission  of  lieutenant;  and  the  pres 
ent  Colonel  Parke  Goodall  was  appointed  the  ensign  of  the 
company.  Having  received  orders  from  the  committee,  cor 
respondent  with  his  own  suggestions,  Captain  Henry  forthwith 
took  up  his  line  of  March  for  Williamsburgh. 

Ensign  Goodall  was  detached,  with  a  party  of  sixteen  men, 
to  cross  the  river  into  King  William  county,  the  residence  of 
Richard  Corbin,  the  king's  receiver-general ;  to  demand  from 
him  three  hundred  and  thirty  pounds,  the  estimated  value  of 
the  powder ;  and,  in  the  event  of  his  refusal  to  make  him  a  pris 
oner.  He  was  ordered,  in  this  case,  to  treat  his  person  with 
all  possible  respect  and  tenderness,  and  to  bring  him  to  Don- 
castle's  ordinary,  about  sixteen  miles  above  Williamsburgh, 
where  the  ensign  was  required,  at  all  events,  to  rejoin  the  main 
body. 

The  detachment,  in  pursuance  of  their  orders,  reached  the 
residence  of  the  receiver-general  some  hours  after  bedtime,  and 
a  guard  was  stationed  around  the  house  until  morning.  About 


PATRICK    HENRY.  107 

daybreak,  however,  the  ladies  of  the  family  made  their  appear 
ance,  and  gave  the  commanding  officer  of  the  detachment  the 
firm  and  correct  assurance,  that  Colonel  Corbin  was  not  at 
home  ;  but  that  the  house,  nevertheless,  was  open  to  search,  if 
it  was  the  pleasure  of  the  officer  to  make  it.  The  manner  of 
the  assurance,  however,  was  too  satisfactory  to  render  this  ne 
cessary,  and  the  detachment  hastened  to  form  the  junction  with 
the  main  body  which  had  been  ordered. 

In  the  meantime,  the  march  of  his  gallant  corps,  in  arms, 
headed  by  a  man  of  Mr.  Henry's  distinction,  produced  the 
most  striking  effects  in  every  quarter.  Corresponding  compa 
nies  started  up  on  all  sides,  and  hastened  to  throw  themselves 
under  the  banners  of  Henry.  It  is  believed  that  five  thousand 
men  at  least,  were  in  arms,  and  were  crossing;  the  country 
to  crowd  around  his  standard,  and  support  it  with  their  lives. 
The  march  was  conducted  in  the  most  perfect  order,  and  with 
the  most  scrupulous  respect  to  the  country  through  which  they 
passed.  The  ranks  of  the  royalists  were  filled  with  dismay. 
Lady  Dunmore,  with  her  family,  retired  to  the  Fowey  man-of- 
war,  then  lying  off  the  town  of  Little  York.  Even  the  patriots 
in  Williamsburgh  were  daunted  by  the  boldness,  and,  as  they 
deemed  it,  the  rashness  of  the  -enterprise. 

Messenger  after  messenger  was  despatched  to  meet  Mr. 
Henry  on  the  way,  and  beg  him  to  desist  from  his  purpose, 
and  discharge  his  men.  It  was  in  vain.  He  was  inflexibly 
resolved  to  effect  the  purpose  of  his  expedition  or  to  perish  in 
the  attempt.  The  messengers  were  therefore  detained,  that 
they  might  not  report  his  strength  ;  and  the  march  was  contin 
ued  with  all  possible  celerity.  The  governor  issued  a  procla 
mation,  in  which  he  denounced  the  movement,  and  called  upon 
the  people  of  the  'country  to  resist  it.  He  could  as  easily  have 
called  "  spirits  from  the  vasty  deep."  He  seems  not  to  have 
relied  much,  himself,  on  the  efficacy  of  his  proclamation.  The 
palace  was  therefore  filled  with  arms,  and  a  detachment  of  ma 
rines  ordered  up  from  the  Fowey.  Before  daybreak,  on  the 
morning  of  the  fourth  of  May,  Captain  Montague,  the  com 
mander  of  that  ship,  landed  a  party  of  men,  with  the  following 
letter,  addressed  to  the  Honourable  Thomas  Nelson,  the  presi 
dent  of  his  majesty's  council: — 

"  Foii-ey,  May  4tf ,  1775. 

"  SIR, — I  have  this  morning  received  certain  information 
that  his  excellency  Lord  Dunmore,  governor  of  Virgina,  is 
threatened  with  an  attack  at  daybreak,  this  morning,  at  his  pal 
ace  in  Williamsburgh,  and  have  thought  proper  to  send  a  de 
tachment  from  his  majesty's  ship  under  my  command,  to  sup~ 
port  his  excellency  :  therefore  strongly  pray  you  to  make  uset 


108  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

of  every  endeavour  to  prevent  the  party  from  being  molested 
and  attacked,  as  in  that  case  I  must  be  under  a  necessity  to  fire 
upon  this  town.  From 

"GEORGE  MONTAGUE." 

Lord  Dunmore,  however,  thought  better  of  this  subject,  and 
caused  Mr.  Henry  to  be  met  at  Doncastle's,  about  sunrise  on 
the  same  morning,  with  the  receiver-general's  bill  of  exchange, 
for  the  sum  required.  It  was  accepted  as  a  satisfaction  for 
the  powder,  and  the  following  receipt  was  passed  by  Mr. 
Henry : — 

"Doncastle's  Ordinary,  New  Kent,  May  \th,  1775. 

"  Received  from  the  Honourable  Richard  Corbin,  Esq.,  his 
majesty's  receiver-general,  three  hundred  and  thirty  pounds,  as 
a  compensation  for  the  gunpowder  lately  taken  out  of  the  pub 
lic  magazine  by  the  governor's  order  ;  which  money  I  promise 
to  convey  to  the  Virginia  delegates  at  the  general  congress,  to 
be,  under  their  direction,  laid  out  in  gunpowder  for  the  colo 
ny's  use,  and  to  be  stored  as  they  shall  direct,  until  the  next 
colony  convention,  or  general  assembly  ;  unless  it  shall  be  ne 
cessary,  in  the  meantime,  to  use  the  same  in  the  defence  of  this 
colony.  It  is  agreed,  that  in  case  the  next  convention  shall 
determine  that  any  part  of  the  said  money  ought  to  be  returned 
to  his  majesty's  said  receiver-general,  that  the  same  shall  be 
done  accordingly.  "PATRICK  HENRY,  jun. 

"  Test — SAMUEL  MEREDITH, 
PARKE  GOODALL." 

The  march  of  the  marines  from  the  Fowey  had,  however, 
produced  the  most  violent  commotion  both  in  York*  and  Wil- 

* "  The  town  of  York  being  somewhat  alarmed  by  a  letter  from  Captain 
Montague,  commander  of  his  majesty's  ship  the  Fowey,  addressed  to  the  Hon. 
Thomas  Nelson,  esquire,  president  of  his  majesty's  council  in  Virginia ;  and  a 
copy  of  said  letter  being  procured,  a  motion  was  made,  that  the  copy  should 
be  laid  before  the  committee,  and  considered.  The  copy  was  road,  and  is  as 
follows  : — 

"  '  Fowey,  May  4,  1775. 

"  '  SIR — I  have  this  morning  received  certain  information  that  his  excellency 
the  Lord  Dunmore,  governor  of  Virginia,  is  threatened  with  an  attack  at  day 
break  this  morning,  at  his  palace  in  Williamsburgh,  and  have  thought  proper  to 
send  a  detachment  from  his  majesty's  ship  under  my  command  to  support  his 
excellency  ;  therefore,  strongly  pray  you  to  make  use  of  every  endeavour  to 
prevent  the  party  from  being  molested  and  attacked,  as  in  that  case  I  must  be 
under  the  necessity  to  fire  upon  this  town.  From  GEORGE  MONTAGUE. 

"  '  To  the  Hon.  Thomas  Nelson.' 

"The committee,  together  with  Capt.  Montague's  letter  taking  into  consid 
eration  the  time  of  its  being  sent,  which  was  too  late  to  permit  the  president  to 
use  his  influence,  had  the  inhabitants  been  disposed  to  molest  and  attack  the 
detachment ;  and  further  considering  that  Col.  Nelson,  who,  had  his  threat 
been  carried  mto  execution,  must  have  been  a  principal  sufferer,  was  at  that 


PATRICK    HENRY.  109 

liamsburgh,  Mr.  Henry  himself  seemed  to  apprehend  that  the 
public  treasury  would  be  the  next  object  of  depredation  and 
that  a  pretext  would  be  sought  for  it  in  the  reprisal  which  had 
just  been  made.  He  therefore  addressed,  from  Doncastle's, 
the  following  letter  to  Robert  Carter  Nicholas,  esquire,  the 
treasurer  of  the  colony  : — 

"May  4,  1775. 

"  SIR — The  affair  of  the  powder  is  now  settled,  so  as  to  pro 
duce  satisfaction  to  me,  and  I  earnestly  wish  to  the  colony  in 
general.  The  people  here  have  it  in  charge  from  Hanover 
committee,  to  tender  their  service  to  you,  as  a  public  officer, 
for  the  purpose  of  escorting  the  public  treasury  to  any  place 
in  this  colony,  where  the  money  would  be  judged  more  safe 
than  in  the  city  of  Williamsburgh.  The  reprisal  now  made  by 
the  Hanover  volunteers,  though  accomplished  in  a  manner  less 
liable  to  the  imputation  of  violent  extremity,  may  possibly  be 
the  cause  of  future  injury  to  the  treasury.  If,  therefore,  you 
apprehend  the  least  danger,  a  sufficient  guard  is  at  your  service. 
I  beg  the  return  of  the  bearer  may  be  instant,  because  the  men 
wish  to  know  their  destination.  With  great  regard,  I  am,  sir, 
your  most  humble  servant,  **  PATRICK  HENRY,  jun." 

To  this  letter  an  answer  was  received  from  Mr.  Nicholas, 
importing  that  he  had  no  apprehension  of  the  necessity,  or  pro 
priety  of  the  proffered  service  :  and  Mr.  Henry  understanding, 
also,  that  the  private  citizens  of  Williamsburgh  were  in  a  great 
measure  quieted  from  their  late  fears  for  their  persons  and 
property,  judged  it  proper  to  proceed  no  farther.  Their  expe 
dition  having  been  crowned  with  success,  the  volunteers  return 
ed  in  triumph  to  their  respective  homes. 

The  committee  of  Hanover  again  met ;  gave  them  their 
warmest  thanks  for  the  vigour  and  propriety  with  which  they 

very  moment  exerting  his  utmost  endeavours  in  behalf  of  government,  and  the 
safety  of  his  excellency's  person,  unanimously  come  to  the  following  resolu 
tions  : — 

"  Resolved,  That  Capt.  Montague,  in  threatening  to  fire  upon  a  defenceless 
town,  in  case  of  an  attack  upon  the  detachment,  in  which  said  town  might  not 
be  concerned,  has  testified  a  spirit  of  cruelty  unprecedented  in  the  annals  of 
civilized  times ;  that,  in  his  late  notice  to  the  president,  he  has  added  insult 
to  cruelty  ;  and  that  considering  the  circumstances  already  mentioned,  of  one 
of  the  most  considerable  inhabitants  of  said  town,  he  has  discovered  the  most 
hellish  principles  that  can  actuate  a  human  mind. 

"  Resolved,  That  it  be  recommended  to  the  inhabitants  of  this  town,  and 
to  the  country  in  general,  that  they  do  not  entertain  or  show  any  other  mark  of 
civility  to  Capt.  Montague,  besides  what  common  decency  and  absolute  neces 
sity  require. 

"Resolved,  That  the  clerk  do  transmit  the  above  proceedings  to  the  public 
printers,  to  be  inserted  in  the  Virginia  gazettes. 

(A  true  copy,)  "WILLIAM  RUSSELL,  Cl'k  Com." 

10 


110  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

had  conducted  the  enterprise  ;  and  returned  their  acknowletfg- 
ments,  in  suitable  terms,  to  the  many  volunteers  of  the  differ 
ent  counties,  who  joined  and  were  marching,  and  ready  to  co 
operate  with  the  volunteer  company  of  Hanover. 

Two  days  after  the  return  of  the  volunteers,  and  when  all 
was  again  quiet,  the  governor  thundered  the  following  anathe 
ma  from  the  palace  : — 

"  By  his  excellency,  the  Right  Honourable  John,  Earl  of 
Dunmore,  his  majesty's  lieutenant  and  governor-general  of  the 
colony  and  dominion  of  Virginia,  and  vice-admiral  of  the 
same : — 

"  A    PROCLAMATION, 

"  Virginia,  to  wit : — Whereas,  I  have  been  informed,  from 
undoubted   authority,  that  a  certain  Patrick  Henry,  of  the 
county  of  Hanover,  and  a  number  of  deluded  followers,  have 
taken  up  arms,  chosen  their  officers,  and  styling  themselves 
an  Independent  Company,  have  marched  out  of  their  county,, 
encamped,  and  put  themselves  in  a  posture  of  war  ;  and  have 
written  and  despatched  letters  to  divers  parts  of  the  country, 
exciting  the  people  to  join  in  these  outrageous  and  rebellious 
practices,  to  the  great  terror  of  his  majesty's  faithful  subjects, 
and  in  open  defiance  of  law  and  government ;  and  have  com 
mitted  other  acts  of  violence,  particularly  in  extorting  from  his 
majesty's  receiver-general  the  sum  of  three  hundred  and  thirty 
pounds,   under    pretence  of  replacing  the  powder  I  thought 
proper  to  order  from  the  magazine  :  whence  it  undeniably  ap 
pears,  that  there  is  no  longer  the  least  security  for  the  life  or 
property  of  any  man ;  wherefore  I  have  thought  proper  with 
the  advice  of  his  majesty's  council,  and  in  his  majesty's  name, 
to  issue  this  my  proclamation,  strictly  charging  all  persons 
upon  their  allegiance,  not  to  aid,  abet,  or  give  countenance  to 
the  said  Patrick  Henry,  or  any  other  persons  concerned  in 
such  unwarrantable  combinations  ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  to  op 
pose  them  and  their  designs  by  every  means  ;  which  designs 
must  otherwise  inevitably  involve  the  whole  country  in  the 
most  direful  calamity,  as  they  will  call  for  the  vengeance  of 
offended  majesty,  and  the  insulted  laws,  to  be  exerted  here  to 
vindicate  the  constitutional  authority  of  government. 

"Given  under  my  hand  and  seal  of  the  colony,  at  Wil- 
liamsburgh,  this  sixth  day  of  May,  seventeen  hundred  and 
seventy-five,  and  in  the  fifteenth  year  of  his  majesty's 
reign.  "  DUNMORE. 

"  God  save  the  king." 

But  Lord  Dunrnore's  threats  and  denunciations  had  no  other 
effect  than  to  render  more  conspicuous  and  more  honourable  the 


PATRICK    HENRY.  Ill 

man  who  was  the  object  of  them.  Mr.  Henry,  who  had  been  on 
the  point  of  setting  out  for  congress  at  the  time  when  he  had 
been  called  off  by  the  intelligence  from  Williamsburgh,  now 
resumed  his  journey,  and  was  escorted  in  triumph  by  a  large 
party  of  gentlemen,  as  far  as  Hooe's  ferry,  on  the  Potomac. 
Messengers  were  s«nt  after  him  from  all  directions,  bearing 
the  thanks  and  the  applauses  of  his  assembled  countrymen, 
for  his  recent  enterprise ;  and  in  such  throngs  did  these  ad 
dresses  come,  that  the  necessity  of  halting  to  read  and  answer 
them  converted  a  journey  of  one  day  into  a  triumph  of  many. 
Thus  the  same  man,  whose  geni.us  had  in  the  year  seventeen 
hundred  and  sixty-five  given  the  first  political  impulse  to  the 
revolution,  had  now  the  additional  honour  of  heading  the  first 
military  movement  in  Virginia,  in  support  of  the  same  cause. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Second  Session  -of  the  Delegates  to  Congress — Attachment  of  the  People  of 
Virginia  to  Lady  Dunmore — Barbarous  Proceeding  of  Lord  Dunmore — 
Takes  his  Residence  on  board  the  Fowey — His  Correspondence  with  the 
Committee — Mr.  Henry  is  appointed  Colonel  of  one  of  the  Regiments  raised 
by  the  Colonial  Convention — Tender  of  the  British  sloop  Otter  is  burnt  by 
the  People — Correspondence  with  Capt.  Squire  in  relation  to  that  Event — 
Lord  Dunmore  heads  a  Body  of  Recruits — Col.  Woodford  is  sent  to  oppose 
his  Progress — Circumstances  leading  to  Mr.  Henry's  resignation — He  is 
elected  a  Delegate  to  the  Convention — Declaration  of  Rights — Mr.  Henry 
elected  Governor  of  Virginia — Addresses  connected  with  that  Event. 

I  CANNOT  learn  that  Mr.  Henry  distinguished  himself  pe 
culiarly  at  this  session  of  congress.  The  spirit  of  resistance 
was  sufficiently  excited ;  and  nothing  remained  but  to  organize 
that  resistance,  and  to  plan  and  execute  the  details  which  were 
to  give  it  effect  In  business  of  this  nature,  Mr.  Henry  as  we 
have  seen,  was  not  efficient.  It  has  been  already  stated  that 
he  was  unsuccessful  in  composition,  of  which  much  was  done, 
•and  eminently  done,  at  this  session ;  and  the  lax  habits  of  his 
early  life  had  implanted  in  him  an  insuperable  aversion  to  the 
drudgery  of  details.  He  could  not  endure  confinement  of  any 
sort,  nor  the  labour  of  close  and  solitary  thinking. 

His  habits  were  all  social,  and  his  mind  delighted  in  unlimited 
range.  His  conclusions  were  never  reached  by  an  elaborate 
deduction  of  thought;  he  gained  them  as  it  were  per  saltern; 
yet  with  a  certainty  not  less  infallible  than  that  of  the  driest 
and  severest  logician.  It  is  not  wonderful,  therefore,  that  he 


112  WIRT'S  LIFE  or 

felt  himself  lost  amid  the  operations  in  which  congress  was 
now  engaged,  and  that  he  enjoyed  the  relief  which  was  afford- 
ed  him,  by  a  military  appointment  from  his  native  state.  It 
will  be  proper,  however,  to  explain  particularly  the  proceed 
ings  which  led  to  this  incident  in  the  life  of  Mr.  Henry. 

Shortly  after  the  affair  of  the  gunpowder,  Lord  North's  con 
ciliatory  proposition,  popularly  called  the  Olive  Branch,  arrived 
in  America.  Hereupon  the  governor  of  Virginia  called  a 
meeting  of  the  house  of  burgesses  ;  and  as  if  the  quarrel  were 
now  completely  over,  Lady  Dunmore  and  her  family  returned 
from  the  Fowey  to  the  palace. 

If  an  estimate  may  be  formed  from  the  newspapers  of  the 
day,  into  which  the  people  seem  to  have  poured  their  feelings 
without  reserve,  that  lady  was  eminently  a  favourite  in  this 
colony.  Her  residence  here  had  been  short;  yet  the  exalted 
virtues  which  marked  her  character,  and  those  domestic  graces 
and  attractions  which  shone  with  the  more  lustre  by  contrast 
with  his  lordship,  had  already  endeared  her  to  the  people;  and 
would  have  consecrated  her  person,  and  those  of  her  children, 
amid  the  wildest  tumult  to  which  this  colony  could  possibly 
be  excited.  The  people  had  been  extremely  wounded  by  her 
late  departure  for  the  Fowey :  they  considered  it  as  a  measure 
of  his  lordship,  and  as  an  unjust  reflection  both  upon  the  judg 
ment  and  generosity  of  the  people  of  this  country. 

They  had  told  him  intelligibly  enough,  that  they  had  formed 
a  much  more  correct  estimate  of  her  worth  than  he  himself  ap 
peared  to  have  done  ;  and  that  so  far  from  her  being  insecure 
in  the  bosom  of  a  people  who  thus  admired,  respected,  and 
loved  her,  his  lordship  would  have  acted  much  more  wisely  to 
have  kept  her  near  his  person,  and  covered  himself  under  the 
sacred  shield  which  sanctified  her  in  the  eyes  of  Virginians. 
In  proportion  to  their  regret  and  mortification  at  her  depar 
ture,  was  the  ardour  of  delight  with  which  they  hailed  her  re 
turn.  A  paragraph  in  Purdie's  paper  assured  her,  that  "her 
arrival  at  the  palace  was  to  the  great  joy  of  the  citizens  of 
Williamsburgh,  and  of  the  people  of  the  whole  country,  who 
had  the  most  unfeigned  regard  and  affection  for  her  ladyship, 
and  wished  her  long  to  live  among  them." 

On  Thursday,  the  first  of  June,  the  general  assembly  accord 
ing  to  the  proclamation  of  Lord  Dunmore,  met  at  the  capitol 
in  the  city  of  Williamsburgh.  He  addressed  them  with  great 
earnestness  on  the  alarming  state  of  the  colony  :  and  exhibited 
the  conciliatory  proposition  of  the  British  ministry,  as  an  ad 
vance  on  the  part  of  the  mother-country,  which  it  was  the  duty 
of  the  colonists  to  meet  with  gratitude  and  devotion.  The 
council  answered  him  in  a  manner  perfectly  satisfactory  ;  but 


PATRICK    HENRY.  113 

before  he  could  receive  the  answer  of  the  house  of  burgesses, 
an  incident  occurred,  which  drove  his  lordship  precipitate!) 
from  his  palace,  and  terminated  for  ever  all  friendly  relations 
between  himself  and  the  people  of  Virginia. 

It  seems,  that  during  the  late  ferment,  produced  by  the  re 
moval  of  the  powder,  and  while  Mr.  Henry  was  on  his  march 
toward  Williamsburgh,  some  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  town, 
to  the  great  offence  of  the  graver  citizens,  had  possessed  them 
selves  of  a  few  of  the  guns  which  still  remained  in  the  maga 
zine.  This  step  gave  great  displeasure  as  well  as  alarm  to  the 
governor ;  and  although  the  mayor  and  council,  as  well  as  all 
the  more  respectable  inhabitants  of  the  town,  condemned  it  in 
terms  as  strong  as  his  own,  and  sincerely  united  in  the  means 
which  were  used  to  recover  the  arms,  yet  his  lordship  contin 
ued  to  brood  over  it  in  secret,  until,  with  the  aid  of  the  minions 
of  the  palace,  he  hatched  a  scheme  of  low  and  cruel  revenge, 
sufficient  of  itself  to  cover  him  with  immortal  infamy. 

It  was  on  Monday  night,  the  fifth  of  June,  that  this  scheme 
discovered  itself.  "  Last  Monday  night,"  says  Purdie,  "  an 
unfortunate  accident  happened  to  two  persons  of  this  city,  who, 
with  a  number  of  others,  had  assembled  at  the  magazine,  to 
furnish  themselves  with  arms.  Upon  their  entering  the  door, 
one  of  the  guns,  which  had  a  spring  to  it,  and  was  charged 
eight  fingers  deep  with  swan-shot,  went  off,  and  lodged  two 
balls  in  one  of  their  shoulders,  another  entered  at  his  wrist,  and 
is  not  yet  extracted  :  the  other  person  had  one  of  his  fingers 
shot  off,  and  the  next  to  it  so  much  shattered  as  to  render  it 
useless,  by  which  sad  misfortune  he  is  deprived  of  the  means 
of  procuring  a  livelihood  by  his  business.  Spring-guns,  it 
seems,  were  placed  at  other  parts  of  the  magazine,  of  which 
the  public  were  totally  ignorant;  and  certainly  had  any  person 
lost  his  life,  the  perpetrator  or  perpetrators  of  this  diabolical 
invention  might  have  been  justly  branded  with  the  opprobri 
ous  title  of  murderers.  O  tempora  !  O  mores  !" 

The  indignation  naturally  excited  by  this  piece  of  deliberate 
and  barbarous  treachery,  which  was  at  once  traced  to  Lord 
Dunmore,  was  farther  aggravated  by  a  discovery  that  several 
barrels  of  powder  had  been  buried  in  the  magazine,  with  the 
purpose,  it  was  reasonably  conjectured,  of  being  used  as  a  mine, 
and  thus  producing  still  more  fatal  destruction,  when  the  occa 
sion  should  offer.  Early  on  the  next  morning,  Lord  Dunmore 
with  his  family,  including  Captain  Foy,  fled  from  the  palace  to 
return  to  it  no  more,  and  took  shelter  on  board  the  Fowey, 
from  the  vengeance  which  he  knew  he  so  justly  deserved.  No 
commotion,  however,  had  ensued  to  justify  his  retreat. 

The  people,  indeed,  were  highly  indignant,  but  they  were 
10* 


114 

silent  and  quiet.  The  suggestions  of  his  lordship's  conscience 
had  alone  produced  his  flight.  He  left  behind  him  a  message  to 
the  speaker  and  house  of  burgesses,  in  which  he  ascribed  this 
movement  to  apprehensions  for  his  personal  safety;  stated  that 
he  should  fix  his  residence  on  board  the  Fowey;  that  no  inter 
ruption  should  be  given  to  the  sitting  of  the  assembly  ;  that  he 
should  make  the  access  to  him  easy  and  safe ;  and  thought  it 
would  be  more  agreeable  to  the  house  to  send  to  him,  from  time 
to  time,  one  or  more  of  their  members,  as  occasion  might  re 
quire,  than  to  put  the  whole  body  to  the  trouble  of  moving  to 
be  near  him. 

On  receiving  this  message,  the  house  immediately  resolved 
itself  into  a  committee  of  the  whole,  and  prepared  an  answer, 
in  which  they  expressed  their  deep  concern  at  the  step  which 
he  had  taken — assuring  him  that  his  apprehensions  of  personal 
danger  were  entirely  unfounded  ;  regretting  that  he  had  not 
expressed  them  to  the  house  previous  to  his  departure,  since, 
from  their  zeal  and  attachment  to  the  preservation  of  order  and 
good  government,  they  should  have  judged  it  their  indispensa 
ble  duty  to  have  endeavoured  to  remove  any  cause  of  disquie 
tude.  They  express  the  anxiety  with  which  they  contemplate 
the  very  disagreeable  situation  of  his  most  amiable  lady  and 
her  family,  and  assure  him,  that  they  should  think  themselves 
happy  in  being  able  to  restore  their  perfect  tranquillity,  by  re 
moving  all  their  fears. 

They  regret  his  departure  and  the  manner  of  it,  as  tending 
to  keep  up  the  great  uneasiness  which  had  of  late  so  unhappily 
prevailed  in  this  country  ;  and  declared  that  they  will  cheer 
fully  concur  in  any  measure  that  may  be  proposed,  proper  for 
the  security  of  himself  and  his  family ;  they  remind  him  how 
impracticable  it  will  be  to  carry  on  the  business  of  the  session 
with  any  tolerable  degree  of  propriety,  or  with  that  despatch 
which  the  advanced  season  of  the  year  required,  while  his  lord 
ship  was  so  far  removed  from  them,  and  so  inconveniently  sit 
uated  ;  and  conclude  with  entreating  him,  that  he  would  be 
pleased  to  return  with  his  lady  and  family  to  the  palace,  which 
they  say,  they  are  persuaded  will  give  the  greatest  satisfaction, 
and  be  the  most  likely  meana  of  quieting  the  minds  of  the 
people. 

This  communication  was  carried  down  to  him  by  a  deputa 
tion  of  two  members  of  the  council,  and  four  of  the  house  of 
burgesses ;  and  in  reply  to  language  so  respectful,  and  assur 
ances  so  friendly  and  conciliatory,  his  lordship  returned  an  an 
swer  in  which  he  charged  them  with  having  slighted  his  offers 
of  respect  and  civility,  with  giving  countenance  to  the  violent 
and  disorderly  proceeding  of  the  people,  and  with  a  usurpation 


PATRICK    HENRY.  115 

of  the  executive  power  in  ordering  and  appointing  guards  to 
mount  in  the  city  of  Williamsburgh,  with  the  view,  as  was  pre 
tended,  to  protect  the  magazine,  but  which  might  well  be  doubt 
ed,  as  there  then  remained  nothing  therein  which  required  being 
guarded ;  he  exhorts  them  to  return  within  the  pale  of  their  con 
stitutional  power;  to  redress  the  many  grievances  which  existed  ; 
to  open  the  courts  of  justice ;  to  disarm  the  independent  com 
panies,  and  what  was  not  less  essential  by  their  own  example, 
and  every  means  in  their  power,  to  abolish  the  spirit  of  perse 
cution  which  pursued,  with  menaces  and  acts  of  oppression, 
all  his  majesty's  loyal  and  orderly  subjects. 

For  the  accomplishment  of  which  ends,  he  invited  them  to 
adjourn  to  the  town  of  York,  opposite  to  which  the  Fowey  lay, 
where  he  promised  to  meet  and  remain  with  them  till  their 
business  should  be  finished.  But  with  respect  to  their  entreaty 
that  he  would  return  to  the  palace,  he  represents  to  them  that 
unless  they  closed  in  with  the  conciliatory  proposition  now 
offered  to  them  by  the  British  parliament,  his  return  to  Wil 
liamsburgh  would  be  as  fruitless  to  the  people,  as  possibly  it 
might  be  dangerous  to  himself.  So  that  he  places  the  event  of 
his  returning,  on  their  acceptance  of  Lord  North's  offer  of  con 
ciliation. 

The  house  of  burgesses  now  took  up  that  proposition  ;  and 
having  examined  it  in  every  light,  with  the  utmost  attention, 
they  conclude  with  a  firm  and  dignified  rejection  of  it,  and  an 
appeal  "to  the  even-handed  justice  of  that  Being  who  doth  no 
wrong ;  earnestly  beseeching  him  to  illuminate  the  councils, 
and  prosper  the  endeavours,  of  those  to  whom  America  had 
confided  her  hopes,  that,  through  their  wise  direction,  we  may 
again  see  reunited  the  blessings  of  liberty  and  prosperity,  and 
the  most  permanent  harmony  with  Great  Britain."* 

A  correspondence  on  another  topic  was  now  opened  between 
the  council  and  burgesses,  and  the  governor,  Dunmore. 

The  former  addressed  him  with  a  request,  that  he  would  or 
der  a  large  parcel  of  arms  which  he  had  left  in  the  palace  to 
be  removed  to  the  public  magazine,  a  place  of  greater  safety. 
This  he  peremptorily  refused  ;  and  ordered  that  those  arms, 
belonging  to  the  king,  should  not  be  touched  without  his  ex 
press  permission.  In  their  reply,  they  say,  that  the  arms  may 
in  some  sort  be  considered  as  belonging  to  the  king,  as  the  su 
preme  head  of  the  government,  and  that  they  were  properly 
under  his  lordship's  direction ;  yet  they  humbly  conceived, 
that  they  were  originally  provided  and  had  been  preserved  for 
the  use  of  the  country  in  cases  of  emergency. 

*  This  vigorous  and  eloquent  production  is  from  the  same  pen  which  drew 
the  Declaration  of  American  Independence. 


116  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

The  palace,  they  say,  had  indeed  been  hitherto  much  respect 
ed,  but  not  so  much  out  of  regard  to  the  building,  as  the  resi 
dence  of  his  majesty's  representative.  Had  his  lordship 
thought  fit  to  remain  there,  they  would  have  had  no  apprehen 
sions  of  danger ;  but  considering  these  arms  at  present  as  ex 
posed  to  his  lordship's  servants,  and  every  rude  invader,  the 
security  derived  from  his  lordship's  presence  could  not  now  be 
relied  on.  They,  therefore,  again  entreat  him  to  order  the  re 
moval  of  the  arms  to  the  magazine.  They  then  proceed  to 
state,  that  they  cannot  decline  representing  to  him  that  the  im 
portant  business  of  the  assembly  had  been  much  impeded  by 
his  excellency's  removal  from  the  palace — that  this  step  had 
deprived  them  of  that  free  and  necessary  access  to  his  lord 
ship,  to  which  they  were  entitled  by  the  constitution  of  the 
country — that  there  were  several  bills  of  the  last  importance 
to  the  country,  now  ready  to  be  presented  to  his  excellency  for 
his  assent. 

They  complain  of  the  inconvenience  to  which  they  had  been 
put  in  sending  their  members  twelve  miles  to  wait  on  his  ex 
cellency,  on  board  of  one  of  his  majesty's  ships  of  war,  to  pre 
sent  their  addresses — they  state  that  they  think  it  would  be 
highly  improper,  and  too  great  a  departure  from  the  constitu 
tional  and  accustomed  mode  of  transacting  business,  to  meet 
his  excellency  at  any  other  place  than  the  capitol,  to  present 
such  bills  as  were  ready  for  his  signature — and,  therefore, 
beseech  him  to  return  for  this  purpose. 

To  all  this  he  gave  a  very  short  answer ;  that,  as  to  the  arms, 
he  had  already  declared  his  intention,  and  conceived  they  were 
meddling  with  a  subject  which  did  not  belong  to  them ;  he  de 
sired  to  know  whom  they  designed  by  the  term  rude  invader ; 
that  the  disorders  in  Williamsburgh  and  other  parts  of  the 
country,  had  driven  him  from  the  palace  ;  and  that,  if  any  incon 
venience  had  arisen  to  the  assembly  on  that  account,  he  was 
not  chargeable  with  it ;  that  they  had  not  been  deprived  of  any 
necessary  or  free  access  to  him  ;  that  the  constitution  undoubt 
edly  vested  him  with  the  power  of  calling  the  assembly  to  any 
place  in  the  colony,  which  exigency  might  require  ;  that  not 
having  been  made  acquainted  with  the  whole  proceedings  of 
the  assembly,  he  knew  of  no  bills  of  importance,  which,  if  he 
were  inclined  to  risk  his  person  again  among  the  people,  the 
assembly  had  to  present  to  him,  nor  whether  they  were  such 
as  he  could  assent  to. 

In  the  course  of  their  correspondence  he  required  the  house 
to  attend  him  on  board  the  Fowey,  for  the  purpose  of  obtain 
ing  his  signature  to  the  bills  ;  and  some  of  the  members  to  pre 
vent  an  actual  dissolution  of  the  government,  and  to  give  effect 


PATRICK    HENRY.  117 

to  the  many  necessary  bills  which  they  had  passed,  proposed 
to  yield  to  this  extraordinary  requisition.  The  project,  how 
ever,  was  exploded  by  a  member's  rising  in  his  place,  and  re 
lating  the  fable  of  the  sick  lion  and  the  fox. 

The  governor  having  thus  virtually  abdicated  his  office,  the 
government  was  in  effect  dissolved.  The  house  hereupon 
resolved,  "That  his  Lordship's  message,  requiring  the  house 
to  attend  him  on  board  one  of  his  majesty's  ships-of-war,  is  a 
high  breach  of  the  rights  and  privileges  of  this  house." — "  That 
the  unreasonable  delays  thrown  into  the  proceedings  of  this 
house  by  the  governor,  and  his  evasive  answers  to  the  sin 
cere  and  decent  addresses  of  the  representatives  of  the  people, 
give  us  great  reason  to  fear,  that  a  dangerous  attack  may  be 
meditated  against  the  unhappy  people  of  this  colony." — "  It 
is,  therefore,  our  opinion,  they  say,  that  they  prepare  for  the 
preservation  of  their  property,  and  their  inestimable  rights  and 
liberties  with  the  greatest  care  and  attention." 

"That  we  do  and  will  bear  faith  and  true  allegiance  to  our 
most  gracious  sovereign,  George  III.,  our  only  lawful  and 
rightful  king :  that  we  will,  at  all  times,  to  the  utmost  of  our 
power,  and  at  the  risk  of  our  lives  and  properties,  maintain  and 
defend  his  government  in  this  colony,  as  founded  on  the  estab 
lished  laws  and  principles  of  the  constitution :  that  it  is  our 
most  earnest  desire  to  preserve  and  strengthen  those  bonds  of 
amity,  with  all  our  fellow-subjects  in  Great  Britain,  which  are 
so  very  essential  to  the  prosperity  and  happiness  of  both  coun 
tries."  Having  adopted  these  resolutions  without  a  dissenting 
voice,  they  adjourned  themselves  to  the  twelfth  of  October  fol 
lowing  ;  and  the  delegates  were  summoned  to  meet  in  conven 
tion  at  the  town  of  Richmond,  on  the  seventeenth  of  July.* 

Immediately  on  the  adjournment  of  the  house  of  burgesses, 
a  very  full  meeting  of  the  citizens  of  Williamsburgh  convened, 
on  the  call  of  Peyton  Randolph,  at  the  court-house  in  that  city, 
"  to  consider  of  the  expediency  of  stationing  a  number  of  men 
there  for  the  public  safety ;  as  well  to  assist  the  citizens  in  their 
nightly  watches,  as  to  guard  against  any  surprise  from  our  ene 
mies  ;  whereupon  it  was  unanimously  agreed  (until  the  general 
convention  should  meet)  to  invite  down  from  a  number  of 
counties,  to  the  amount  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  men.  Mean 
while,  until  they  arrived,  the  neighbouring  counties,  they  say, 
were  kind  enough  to  lend  them  their  assistance. 

*  On  this  occasion,  Richard  H.  Lee,  standing  with  two'of  the  burgesses  in 
the  porch  of  the  capitol,  inscribed  with  his  pencil  on  a  pillar  of  the  capitol, 
these  prophetic  lines,  from  Shakspeare  :  — 

"When  shall  we  three  meet  again  7 
In  thunder,  lightninc,  and  in  rain ; 
When  the  hufly-burly's  done, 
When  the  battle's  lost  and  icon." 


118  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

On  the  twenty-ninth  of  June,  the  Fowey  ship,  and  Magdalen 
schooner,  sailed  from  York  ;  on  board  the  latter  went  Lady 
Dimmore,  and  the  rest  of  the  governor's  family,  bound  for  Eng 
land  ;  and  the  colony  was  for  a  short  time  relieved  by  the  re 
port  that  the  Fowey  carried  Lord  Dimmore  and  Captain  Foy 
on  a  visit  to  General  Gage,  at  Boston.  This  report,  however, 
was  unfounded.  The  Fowey  merely  escorted  the  Magdalen  to 
the  Capes,  and  then  returned  again  to  her  moorings,  before 
York.  The  Otter  sloop-of-war,  commanded  by  Captain  Squire, 
thereupon  fell  down  to  the  mouth  of  York  river,  with  the  inten 
tion  of  cruising  along  the  coast,  and  seizing  all  provision  ves 
sels  ;  and  soon  became  distinguished  at  least  for  the  malignity 
of  her  attempts.  The  Fowey  was  relieved  by  the  ship  Mercu 
ry,  of  twenty-four  guns,  John  Macartney,  commander,  and  de 
parted  for  Boston,  and  carrying  with  her  the  now  obnoxious 
Captain  Foy.  The  governor's  domestics  left  the  palace,  and 
removed  to  his  farm  at  Montibello,  about  six  miles  below  Wil- 
liamsburgh ;  and  the  governor  himself  fixed  his  station  at  the 
town  of  Portsmouth.  In  this  posture  of  things,  on  Monday, 
the  twenty-fourth  of  July,  seventeen  hundred  and  seventy-five, 
the  colonial  convention  met  at  the  city  of  Richmond. 

The  proceedings  of  this  convention  were  marked  by' a  char 
acter  of  great  decision  and  vigour.  One  of  their  first  measures 
was  an  ordinance  for  raising  and  imbodying  a  sufficient  force 
for  the  defence  and  protection  of  the  colony.  By  this  ordi 
nance  it  was  provided,  that  two  regiments  of  regulars,  to  con 
sist  of  one  thousand  and  twenty  privates,  rank  and  file,  should 
be  forthwith  raised  and  taken  into  the  pay  of  the  colony ;  and 
a  competent  regular  force  was  also  provided  for  the  protection 
of  the  western  frontier.  The  whole  colony  was  divided  into 
sixteen  military  districts  ;  with  a  provision,  that  a  regiment  of 
six  hundred  and  eighty  men,  rank  and  file,  should  be  raised  on 
the  eastern  shore  district,  and  a  battalion  of  five  hundred  in  each 
of  the  others ;  to  be  forthwith  armed,  trained,  furnished  with 
all  military  accoutrements,  and  ready  to  march  at  a  minute's 
warning. 

A  committee,  called  the  committee  of  safety,  was  also  organ 
ized,  with  functions  and  powers  analogous  to  those  of  the  ex 
ecutive  department,  and  apparently  designed  to  supply  the 
vacancy  occasioned  by  the  governor's  abdication  of  that  branch 
of  the  government. 

The  convention  now  proceeded  to  the  appointment  of  officers 
to  command  the  regular  forces.  The  lofty  stand  which  Mr. 
Henry  had  taken  in  the  American  cause,  his  increasing  popu 
larity,  and  the  prompt  and  energetic  movement  which  he  had 
made  in  the  affair  of  the  gunpowder,  brought  him  strongly  be- 


PATRICK    HENRY.  119 

fore  the  view  of  the  house  ;  and  he  was  elected  the  colonel  of  the 
first  regiment,  and  the  commander  of  all  the  forces  raised,  and 
to  be  raised,  for  the  defence  of  the  colony.  Mr.  William  Wood- 
ford,  who  is  said  to  have  distinguished  himself  in  the  French 
and  Indian  war,  was  appointed  to  the  command  of  the  second 
regiment. 

The  place  of  rendezvous  for  the  troops  was  the  city  of  Wil- 
liamsburgh.  Mr.  Henry  was  at  his  post  on  the  twentieth  of 
September,  examining  the  grounds  adjacent  to  the  city,  for  the 
purpose  of  selecting  an  encampment;  and  the  place  chosen 
was  at  the  back  of  William  and  Mary  college.  The  troops 
were  recruited  and  poured  in  with  wonderful  rapidity.  The 
papers  of  the  day  teem  with  the  annunciation  of  company  after 
company,  both  regulars  and  minute-men,  with  the  highest  en 
comiums  on  the  appearance  and  spirit  of  the  troops ;  and  had 
the  purpose  been  offensive  war,  Colonel  Henry  was  soon  in  a 
situation  to  have  annihilated  any  force  that  Lord  Dunmore 
could  at  that  time  have  arrayed  against  him. 

But  there  was,  in  truth,  something  extremely  singular  and 
embarrassing  in  the  situation  of  the  parties  in  regard  to  each 
other.  It  was  not  war,  nor  was  it  peace.  The  very  ordinance 
by  which  these  troops  were  raised,  was  filled  with  professions 
of  allegiance  and  fidelity  to  George  III. — professions,  whose 
sincerity  there  is  the  less  reason  to  doubt,  because  they  are 
confined  to  the  exercise  of  his  constitutional  powers,  and  stand 
connected  with  an  expression  of  their  firm  determination  to 
resist  any  attempt  on  the  liberties  of  the  country.  The  only 
intelligible  purpose,  therefore,  for  which  these  troops  were 
raised,  was  a  preparation  for  defence ;  and  for  defence  against 
an  attempt  to  enforce  the  parliamentary  taxes  upon  this  colony. 
With  respect  to  Lord  Dunmore,  he  was  indeed  considered  as 
having  abandoned  the  duties  of  his  office  :  yet  still  he  was  re 
garded  as  the  governor  of  Virginia;  and  there  seems  to  have 
been  no  disposition  to  offer  violence  to  his  person. 

Dunmore,  on  his  part,  considered  the  colony  as  in  a  state  of 
open  and  general  rebellion ;  not  merely  designing  to  resist  an 
attempt  to  enforce  upon  them  an  obnoxious  tax,  but  to  subvert 
the  regal  government  wholly  and  entirely ;  and  had  his  power 
been  equal  to  his  wishes,  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  he 
would  have  disarmed  the  colony,  and  hung  up  without  cere 
mony,  the  leaders  of  this  traitorous  revolt,  as  he  affected  to 
consider  it.  His  impotence,  however,  and  the  aversion  of  the 
colonists  to  act  otherwise  than  defensively,  produced  a  suspense 
full  of  the  most  painful  anxiety. 

In  the  meantime,  Captain  Squire,  commander  of  his  majes 
ty's  sloop,  the  Otter,  had  been  labouring  throughout  the  sum- 


130  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

mer  with  some  success,  to  change  the  defensive  attitude  of  the 
colony.  He  was  engaged  in  cruising  continually  in  James  and 
York  rivers,  plundering  the  defenceless  shores,  and  carrying 
off  the  slaves,  wherever  seduction  or  force  could  place  them  in 
his  power.  These  piratical  excursions  had  wrought  up  the 
citizens  who  were  not  in  arms  to  a  very  high  pitch  of  resent 
ment  ;  and  an  accident  soon  gave  them  an  opportunity  of  par 
tial  reprisal,  which  they  did  not  fail  to  seize. 

On  the  second  of  September,  the  captain,  sailing  in  a  tender, 
on  a  marauding  expedition  from  James  to  York  river,  was  en 
countered  by  a  violent  tempest,  and  his  tender  was  driven  on 
shore  upon  Back  river,  near  Hampton.  It  was  night,  and  the 
storm  still  raging  : — the  captain  and  his  men,  distrusting  (un 
justly,  as  it  would  seem  from  the  papers)  the  hospitality  of  the 
inhabitants,  made  their  escape  through  the  woods ;  the  vessel 
was  on  the  next  day  discovered  and  burnt  by  the  people  of  the 
neighbourhood.  In  consequence  of  this  act,  the  captain  ad 
dressed  the  following  letter  to  the  committee  of  the  town  of 
Hampton : — 

"  Otter  sloop,  Norfolk  river,  Sept.  10, 1775. 

"GENTLEMEN — Whereas,  a  sloop-tender,  manned  and  arm 
ed  in  his  majesty's  service,  was,  on  Saturday  the  second  in 
stant,  in  a  violent  gale  of  wind,  cast  on  shore  in  Back  river. 
Elizabeth  county,  having  on  board  the  undermentioned  king's 
stores,  which  the  inhabitants  of  Hampton  thought  proper  tc 
seize  :  I  am  therefore  to  desire,  that  the  king's  sloop,  with  all 
the  stores  belonging  to  her,  be  immediately  returned  ;  or  the 
people  of  Hampton,  who  committed  the  outrage,  must  be  an 
swerable  for  the  consequences. 

"  I  am,  gentlemen,  your  humble  servant, 

"MATTHEW  SQUIRE." 

This  letter,  with  a  catalogue  of  the  stores  having  been  com 
municated  to  the  committee  of  Williamsburgh,  and  by  them 
having  been  laid  before  the  commanding  officer  of  the  volun 
teers  of  that  place,  Major  James  Innes,  at  the  head  of  a  hun 
dred  men,  who  courted  the  enterprise,  flew  to  Hampton  to  re 
pel  the  threatened  invasion.  Squire,  however,  satisfied  him 
self  for  the  present,  by  falling  down  to  Hampton  road,  where 
he  seized  the  passage-boats,  with  the  negroes  in  them,  by  way 
of  reprisal,  as  he  alleged,  for  the  stores,  &c.,  taken  out  of  his 
tender  when  driven  ashore  in  the  late  storm;  "which  boats 
and  negroes,"  adds  Purdie's  paper  of  the  day,  "it  is  likely  he 
intends  taking  into  the  king's  service,  to  send  out  a  pirating 
for  hogs,  fowls,  &c.  A  very  pretty  occupation  for  the  captain 
of  one  of  his  majesty's  ships-of-war." 

The  next  paper  announces  the  movements  of  Squire  by  a 


PATRICK    HENRY. 


paragraph,  which  I  extract  verbatim,  as  showing  in  an  amu 
sing  light,  the  spirit  of  the  limes,  and  as  Camden  says,  "  the 
plain  and  jolly  mirth  of  our  ancestors,"  even  in  the  midst  of 
misfortunes  :  —  "  We  hear  that  the  renowned  Captain  Squire,  of 
his  majesty's  sloop  Otter,  is  gone  up  the  bay  for  Baltimore  in 
Maryland  ;  on  his  old  trade,  it  is  to  be  presumed,  of  negro- 
catching,  pillaging  the  farms  and  plantations  of  their  stock  and 
poultry,  and  other  illustrious  actions,  highly  becoming  a 
Squire  in  the  king's  navy.  Some  say,  his  errand  was  to  watch 
for  a  quantity  of  gunpowder  intended  for  this  colony  ;  but  that 
valuable  is  now  safely  landed  where  he  dare  not  come  to  smell 
it."  The  same  paper  contains  the  following  answer  from  the 
committee  of  Hampton  to  Squire's  letter:  — 
**  To  Matthew  Squire,  Esq.,  commander  of  his  majesty's  sloop 
Otter,  lying  in  Hampton  roads. 

"Hampton,  September  16,  1775. 

«  SIR  —  Yours  of  the  tenth  instant,  directed  to  the  committee 
of  the  town  of  Hampton,  reciting,  that  a  sloop-tender  on  his 
majesty's  service  was,  on  the  second  instant,  cast  on  shore  near 
this  place,  having  on  board  some  of  the  king's  stores,  which 
you  say  were  seized  by  the  inhabitants,  and  demanding  an  im 
mediate  return  of  the  same,  or  that  the  people  of  Hampton 
must  answer  the  consequences  of  such  outrage,  was  this  day- 
laid  before  them,  who  knowing  the  above  recital  to  be  injuri 
ous  and  untrue  think  proper  here  to  mention  the  facts  relative- 
to  this  matter.  The  sloop  we  apprehend,  was  not  in  'his  ma 
jesty's  service,  as  we  are  well  assured-  that  you  were  on  a  pilla 
ging  or  pleasuring  party  ;  and  although  it  gives  us  pain  to  use 
indelicate  expressions,  yet  the  treatment  received  from  you 
•calls  for  a  state  of  facts,  in  the  simple  language  of  t?uth,  how 
ever  harsh  it  may  sound. 

"  To  your  own  heart  we  appeal  for  the  candour  with  which 
we  liave  stated  them  —  to  that  heart  which  drove  you  into  the 
woods  in  the  most  tempestuous  weather,  in  one  of  the  darkest 
nights,  to  avoid  the  much-injured  and  innocent  inhabitants  of  this- 
county,  who  had  never  threatened  or  ill-used  you  —  and  who 
would  at  that  time  have  received  you,  we  are  assured,  with 
humanity  and  civility,  had  you  made  yourself  and  situation 
known  to  them. 

"  Neither  the  vessel  nor  stores  were  seized  by  the  inhabit 
ants  of  Hampton  ;  the  gunner,  one  Mr.  Gray  —  and  the  pilot, 
one  Mr.  Ruth  —  who  were  employed  by  you  on  this  party,  are 
men,  we  hope,  who  will  still  assert  the  truth.  From  them,  di 
vers  of  our  members  were  informed  that  the  vessel  and  stores- 
together  with  a  good  seine,  (which  you,  without  cause,  so  has 
tily  deserted,)  were  given  up  as  irrecoverably  lost,  by  the  ofii* 

11 


132  WIRT'S  LIFE  or 

cers,  and  some  of  the  proprietors,  to  one  Finn,  near  whose 
house  you  were  driven  on  shore,  as  a  reward  for  his  entertain 
ing  you,  <fcc.,  with  respect  and  decency. 

"  The  threats  of  a  person  whose  conduct  hath  evinced  that 
he  was  not  only  capable,  hut  desirous  of  doing  us,  in  our  then 
defenceless  state,  the  greatest  injustice,  we  confess,  were  some 
what  alarming  ;  but  with  the  greatest  pleasure  we  can  inform 
you,  our  apprehensions  are  now  removed. 

"  Although  we  know  that  we  cannot  legally  be  called  to  ac 
count  for  that  which  you  are  pleased  to  style  an  outrage*  and 
notwithstanding  we  have  hitherto,  by  you  been  treated  with 
iniquity,  we  will,  as  far  as  in  our  power  lies,  do  you  right  upon 
just  and  equitable  terms. 

**  First.  We,  on  behalf  of  the  community,  require  from  you  the 
restitution  of  a  certain  Joseph  Harris,  the  property  of  a  gentle 
man  of  our  town,  and  all  other  our  slaves  whom  you  may  have 
on  board  ;  which  said  Harris,  as  well  as  other  slaves,  hath  been 
long  harboured,  and  often  employed,  with  your  knowledge,  (as 
appeared  to  us  by  the  confession  of  Ruth  and  others,  and  is 
well  known  to  all  your  men,)  in  pillaging  us  under  cover  of 
night,  of  our  sheep  and  other  live  stock. 

"  Secondly.  We  require  that  you  will  send  on  shore  all 
boats,  with  their  hands,  and  every  other  thing  you  have  detain 
ed  on  this  occasion. 

"And  lastly.  That  you  shall  not,  by  your  own  arbitrary 
authority,  undertake  to  insult,  molest,  interrupt,  or  detain,  the 
persons  or  property  of  any  one  passing  to  and  from  this  town, 
•as  you  have  frequently  done  for  some  time  past. 

"  Upon  complying  with  those  requisitions,  we  will  endeav 
our  to  procure  every  article  left  on  our  shore,  and  shall  be 
ready  to  deliver  them  to  your  pilot  and  gunner,  of  whose 
good  behaviour  we  have  had  some  proofs. 

"We  are,  &c., 
"  The  Committee  of  Elizabeth  City  county, 

and  town  of  Hampton" 

In  the  meantime,  Squire's  threat  against  Hampton  was  HOE 
an  empty  one,  as  is  proven  by  the  following  account  of  the  at 
tempt  to  execute  it:  the  article  is  extracted  from  a  supplfemenb 
to  Purdie's  paper  of  October  twenty-seventh,  seventeen  hun 
dred  and  seventy-five : — 

"  After  Lord  Dunmore,  with  his  troops  and  tfoe  na-vy,  had 
been  for  several  weeks  seizing  the  persons  and  property  o-f  hi& 
majesty's  peaceable  subjects  in  this  colony — on  Wednesday 
night  last,  a  party  from  an  armed  tender  landed'  near  -Hampton* 
and  took  away  a  valuable  negro  slave  and  a  sail  from  the  own~ 
er.  Next  morning  there  appeared  off  the  mouth  of 


PATRICK    HENRY.  123 

river,  a  large  armed  schooner,  a  sloop,  and  three  tenders, 
with  soldiers  on  board,  and  a  message  was  received  at  Hamp 
ton  from  Captain  Squire,  on  board  the  schooner,  that  he  would 
that  day  land  and  burn  the  town ;  on  which  a  company  of  reg 
ulars,  and  a  company  of  minute-men,*  who  had  been  placed 
there  in  consequence  of  former  threats  denounced  against  that 
place,  made  the  best  disposition  to  prevent  their  landing,  aided 
by  a  body  of  militia  who  were  suddenly  called  together  on  the 
occasion. 

"  The  enemy  accordingly  attempted  to  land,  but  were  retarded 
by  some  boats  sunk  across  the  channel  for  that  purpose.  Upon 
this  they  fired  several  small  cannon  at  the  provincials  without 
any  effect,  who  in  return  discharged  their  small  arms  so  effect 
ually,  as  to  make  the  enemy  move  oft*,  with  the  loss  of  several 
ffien,  as  it  is  believed.  But  they  had,  in  the  meantime,  burnt 
down  a  house  belonging  to  Mr.  Cooper,  on  the  river.  On  in 
telligence  of  this  reaching  Williamsburgh,  about  nine  o'clock 
at  night,  a  company  of  riflemen  was  despatched  to  the  aid  of 
Hampton,  and  the  colonel  of  the  second  regiment  sent  to  take 
the  command  of  the  whole  ;  who  with  the  company,  arrived 
about  eight  o'clock  next  morning. 

"  The  enemy  had  in  the  night  cut  through  the  boats  sunk, 
And  made  a  passage  for  their  vessels,  which  were  drawn  close 
op  to  the  town,  and  began  to  fire  upon  it  soon  after  the  arrival 
of  the  party  from  Williamsburgh  ;  but  as  soon  as  our  men 
were  so  disposed  as  to  give  them  a  few  shot,  they  went  off  so 
hastily  that  our  people  took  a  small  tender,  with  five  white 
men,  a  woman,  and  two  slaves,  six  swivels,  seven  muskets, 
some  small  arms,  a  sword,  pistols,  arid  other  things,  and  several 
papers  belonging  to  Lieutenant  Wright,  who  made  his  escape 
by  jumping  overboard  and  swimming  away  with  Mr.  King's 
man,  who  are  on  shore,  and  a  pursuit  it  is  hoped  may  over 
take  them. 

"  There  were  two  of  the  men  in  the  vessel  mortally  wound 
ed  ;  one  is  since  dead,  and  the  other  near  his  end.  Besides 
which,  we  are  informed,  nine  were  seen  to  be  thrown  over 
board  from  one  of  the  vessels.  We  have  not  a  man  even 
wounded.  The  vessels  went  over  to  Norfolk,  and  we  are  in 
formed  the  whole  force  from  thence  is  intended  to  visit  Hamp 
ton  this  day.  If  they  should,  we  hope  our  brave  troops  are 
prepared  for  them  ;  as  we  can  with  pleasure  assure  the  public, 

*"  Captain  George  Nicholas  commandod  the  regulars,  and  Captain  Lyne  the 
minute- men  ;  Captain  Nicholas,  therefore,  as  being  in  the  regular  service,  had 
the  command  of  the  whole  in  the  first  skirmish.  This  gentleman  was  the  eld 
est  son  of  Colonel  Robert  C.  Nicholas  ;  and  on  the  return  of  peace  became 
highly  distinguished  both  as  a  politician  and  a  lawyer. 


124  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

that  every  part  of  them  behaved  with  spirit  and  bravery,  and 
are  wishing  for  another  skirmish." 

The  next  paper  contains  the  following  card  to  Captain 
Squire,  which  is  inserted  merely  as  another  specimen  of  the 
character  of  the  times  :— 

"  Williamsburghi  November  3d. 

"  The  riflemen  and  soldiers  of  Hampton  desire  their  compli 
ments  to  Captain  Squire  and  his  squadron,  and  wish  to  know 
how  they  approve  the  reception  they  met  last  Friday.  Should 
he  incline  to  renew  his  visit,  they  will  be  glad  to  see  him  ;  oth 
erwise,  in  point  of  complaisance,  they  will  be  under  the  neces 
sity  of  returning  the  visit.  If  he  cannot  find  the  ear  that  was 
cut  off,  they  hope  he  will  wear  a  wig  to  hide  the  mark ;  for 
perhaps  it  may  not  be  necessary  that  all  should  know  chance 
had  effected  that  which  the  laws  ought  to  have  done." 

In  the  meantime,  Lord  Dunmore,  with  a  motley  band  of 
tories,  negroes,  and  recruits  from  St.  Augustine's,  was  "cutting 
such  fantastic  capers"  in  the  country  round  about  Norfolk,  as 
made  it  necessary  to  crush  him  or  drive  him  from  the  state* 
With  this  view,  the  committee  of  safety  (who,  by  their  consti 
tution,  were  authorized  to  direct  all  military  movements)  de 
tached  Colonel  Woodford,  at  the  head  of  about  eight  hundred 
men  to  cross  James  river  at  Sandy  Point,  and  go  in  pursuit  of 
his  lordship.  Colonel  Henry  himself  had  been  anxious  for 
this  service,  and  is  said  to  have  solicited  it  in  vain.  But  the 
committee  of  safety*  seem  to  have  distrusted  too  much  his 
want  of  military  experience,  to  confide  to  him  so  important 
an  enterprise. 

The  disgust  which  Mr.  Henry  had  conceived  at  the  palpable 
reflection  on  his  military  capacity  was  increased  by  Colonel 
"Woodford's  refusal  to  acknowledge  his  superiority  in  command. 
This  gentleman,  after  his  departure  from  Williamsburgh,  on 
the  expedition  against  Dunmore,  considered  himself  as  no  longer 
under  Mr.  Henry's  authority ;  and  consequently  addressed  all 

*  The  committee  of  safety  was  composed  of  the  following  gentlemen  : — Ed 
mund  Pendleton,  George  Mason,  Hon.  John  Page,  Richard  Bland,  Thomas 
Ludwel!  Lee,  Paul  Carrington,  Dudley  Digges,William  Cabell,  Carter  Brax- 
ton,  James  Mercer,  and  John  Tabb,  esquires.  The  clause  of  the  ordinance 
of  convention  which  authorized  this  committee  to  direct  all  military  move 
ments,  is  the  following  : — 

"And  whereas  it  may  be  necessary  for  the  public  security,  that  the  forces  to 
be  raised  by  virtue  of  this  ordinance  should,  as  occasion  may  require,  be 
marched  to  different  parts  of  the  colony,  and  that  the  officers  should  be  sub 
ject  to  a  proper  control,  Be  it  ordained  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  That  the  offi 
cers  and  soldiers  under  such  command  shall  in  all  things,  not  otherwise  particu 
larly  provided  for  by  this  ordinance,  and  the  articles  established  for  their  regu 
lation,  be  under  the  control,  and  subject  to  the  order  of  the  general  committee 
of  safety," 


PATRICK    HENRY.  125 

his  communications  to  the  convention  when  in  session,  and 
when  not  so,  to  the  committee  of  safety.  On  the  sixth  Decem 
ber,  seventeen  hundred  and  seventy-five,  Mr.  Henry  sent  an 
express  to  Colonel  Woodford,  with  the  following  letter : — 

"  On  Virginia  service. 

"To  William  Woodford,  Esq.,  colonel  of  the  second  regiment 
of  the  Virginia  forces. 

"Headquarters,  Dec.  6,  1775. 

«*  SIR — Not  hearing  of  arty  despatch  from  you  for  a  long  time, 
I  can  no  longer  forbear  sending  to  know  your  situation,  and 
what  has  occurred.  Every  one  as  well  as  myself,  is  vastly 
anxious  to  hear  how  all  stands  with  you.  In  case  you  think 
anything  could  be  done  to  aid  and  forward  the  enterprise  you 
have  in  hand,  please  to  write  it.  But  I  wish  to  know  your  sit 
uation,  particularly  with  that  of  the  enemy,  that  the  whole  may 
be  laid  before  the  convention  now  here.  The  number  and  de 
signs  of  the  enemy,  as  you  have  collected  it,  might  open  some 
prospects  to  us,  that  might  enable  us  to  form  some  diversion 
in  your  favour.  The  bearer  has  orders  to  lose  no  time,  and 
return  with  all  possible  haste.  I  am,  sir,  your  most  humble 
servant,  "P.  HENRY,  jun. 

"  P.  S.  Captain  Alexander's  company  is  not  yet  come. 
"  Col.  WOODFORD." 

To  this  letter,  on  the  next  day,  he  received  the  following 
answer  from  Colonel  Woodford  : — 

"  Great  Bridge,  7th  Dec.,  1775. 

"  SIR — I  have  received  yours  per  express ;  in  answer  to 
which  must  inform  you,  that,  understanding  you  were  out  of 
town,  I  have  not  written  you  before  last  Monday,  by  the  return 
of  the  honourable  the  convention's  express,  when  I  referred  you 
to  my  letter  to  them  for  every  particular  respecting  mine  and 
the  enemy's  situation.  I  wrote  them  again  yesterday  and  this 
morning,  which  no  doubt  they  will  communicate  to  you,  as 
commanding  officer  of  the  troops  at  Williamsburgh.  When 
joined,  I  shall  always  esteem  myself  immediately  under  your 
command,  and  will  obey  accordingly ;  but  when  sent  to  com 
mand  a  separate  and  distinct  body  of  troops,  under  the  imme 
diate  instructions  of  the  committee  of  safety — whenever  that 
body  or  the  honourable  convention  is  sitting,  I  look  upon  it  as 
my  indispensable  duty  to  address  my  intelligence  to  them,  as 
the  supreme  power  in  this  colony. 

"If  I  judge  wrong,  I  hope  that  honourable  body  will  set  me 
right,  I  would  wish  to  keep  up  the  greatest  harmony  between 
us,  for  the  good  of  the  cause  we  are  engaged  in ;  but  cannot 
bear  to  be  supposed  to  have  neglected  my  duty,  when  I  have 

11* 


126 

done  everything  1  conceived  to  be  so.  The  enemy  are  strong 
ly  fortified  on  the  other  side  the  bridge,  and  a  great  number  of 
negroes  and  tories  with  them  ;  my  prisoners  disagree  as  to  the 
numbers.  We  are  situate  here  in  mud  and  mire,  exposed  to 
every  hardship  that  can  be  conceived,  but  the  want  of  provis 
ions,  of  which  our  stock  is  but  small,  the  men  suffering  for 
shoes ;  and  if  ever  soldiers  deserved  a  second  blanket  in  any 
service,  they  do  in  this  ;  our  stock  of  ammunition  much  re 
duced,  no  bullet-moulds  that  were  good  for  anything  sent  to 
run  up  our  lead,  till  those  sent  the  other  day  by  Mr.  Page. 
If  these  necessaries  and  better  arms  had  been  furnished  in  time 
for  this  detachment,  they  might  have  prevented  much  trouble 
and  great  expense  to  this  colony. 

"  Most  of  those  arms  I  received  the  other  day  from  Williams- 
burgh  are  rather  to  be  considered  as  lumber,  than  fit  to  be  put 
in  men's  hands,  in  the  face  of  an  enemy :  with  much  repair, 
some  of  them  will  do ;  with  those,  and  what  I  have  taken  from 
the  enemy,  hope  to  be  better  armed  in  a  few  days.  I  have 
written  to  the  convention,  that  it  was  my  opinion,  the  greatest 
part  of  the  first  regiment  ought  immediately  to  march  to  the- 
scene  of  action  with  some  cannon,  and  a  supply  of  ammunition, 
and  every  other  necessary  for  war  that  the  colony  can  muster,, 
that  a  stop  may  be  put  to  the  enemy's  progress. 

"As  to  the  Carolina  troops  and  cannon,  they  are  by  no 
means  what  I  was  made  to  expect :  sixty  of  them  are  here,  and 
one  hundred  will  be  here  to-morrow ;  more,  it  is  said,  will  fol 
low  in  a  few  days,  under  Colonel  Howe ;  badly  armed,  cannon 
«ot  mounted,  no  furniture  to  them.  How  long  these  people 
will  choose  to  stay,  it  is  impossible  for  me  to  say ;  ninety-nine 
in  one  hundred  of  these  lower  people  rank  tories.  From  all 
these  informations,  if  you  can  make  a  diversion  in  my  favour, 
it  will  be  of  service  to  the  colony,  and  very  acceptable  to  my 
self  and  soldiers  ;  whom,  if  possible,  I  will  endeavour  to  ke»jp 
easy  under  their  hard  duty,  but  begin  to  doubt  whether  it  will 
be  the  case  long." 

In  two  days  after  the  receipt  of  this  letter,  came  the  news 
•of  the  victory  of  the  Great  Bridge,  by  which  Colonel  Wood- 
ford  at  once  threw  into  the  shade  the  military  pretensions  of 
all  the  other  state  officers ;  a  circumstance  not  very  well  cal 
culated  to  gild  the  pill  of  contumacy,  which  he  had  just  present 
ed  to  the  commander-in-chief.  The  committee  of  safety  had 
now  a  delicate  part  to  act  between  these  two  officers  ;  they 
were  extremely  anxious  to  avoid  the  decision  of  the  question 
which  had  arisen  between  them,  seeing  very  distinctly  that 
their  decision  could  not  but  disappoint  very  painfully  that  gen 
tleman  who  was  their  favourite  officer. 


PATRICK    HENRY, 

« 

They  seem  to  have  been  apprehensive  that  Colonel  Wood- 
ford  would  be  led,  by  that  decision,  to  resign  in  disgust ;  and 
were  justly  alarmed  at  the  idea  of  losing  the  services  of  so 
valuable  an  officer,  especially  after  the  distinction  which  he 
had  recently  gained  at  the  Great  Bridge.  Mr.  Henry,  howev 
er,  insisted  that  the  committee  or  convention  should  determine 
the  question,  as  being  the  only  way  to  settle  the  construction 
of  his  commission.  It  was  accordingly  taken  up,  and  decided 
by  the  following  order  of  the  committee  : — 

"  In  Committee — December,  MDCCLXXV 

"Resolved,  unanimously,  That  Colonel  Woodford,  although 
acting  upon  a  separate  and  detached  command,  ought  to  cor 
respond  with  Colonel  Henry,  and  make  returns  to  him  at  prop 
er  times  of  the  state  and  condition  of  the  forces  under  his  com 
mand  ;  and  also  that  he  is  subject  to  his  orders,  when  the  con 
vention,  or  the  committee  of  safety,  is  not  sitting,  but  that  while 
either  of  those  bodies  are  sitting,  he  is  to  receive  his  orders 
from  one  of  them." 

The  address  which  was  thought  necessary  in  communicating 
this  resolution  to  Colonel  Woodford,  is  a  proof  of  the  very 
high  estimate  in  which  he  was  held  by  the  committee  ;  and  the 
same  evidence  furnishes  very  decisive  proof  that  Colonel  Hen 
ry  had  not  owed  his  military  appointment  to  the  suffrage  of 
those  members  of  the  committee  who  maintained  the  corres 
pondence.  Thus,  on  the  thirteenth  of  December,  seventeen 
hundred  and  seventy-five,  a  member  of  the  convention  address 
ed  a  letter  to  Colonel  Woodford,  which  seems  to  have  been  a 
preparative  for  the  resolution  of  the  committee,  and  is  certain 
ly  suited,  with  great  dexterity,  to  that  object;  the  writer,  after 
some  introductory  observations,  says : — "  Whether  you  are 
obliged  to  make  your  returns  to  Colonel  H — y,  and  to  send 
your  despatches  through  him  to  the  convention  and  committee 
of  safety,  and  also  from  those  bodies  through  him  to  you,  must 
depend  upon  the  ordinance  and  the  commission  he  bears. 

"  You  will  observe  his  commission  is  strongly  worded,  be 
yond  what  I  believe  was  the  intention  of  the  person  who  drew 
it* — but  the  ordinance,  I  think,  clearly  gives  the  convention, 

*  The  committee  appointed  to  draw  up  and  report  the  forms  of  commis 
sions,  for  the  officers  of  the  troops  to  be  raised  by  order  of  the  convention  of 
the  summer  of  1775,  were,  Mr.  Banister,  Mr.  Lawson,  Mr.  Walkins,  and  Mr. 
Holt ;  and  on  the  26th  of  August,  1775,  Mr.  Banister  from  this  committee  re 
ported  the  following : — 
"  Form  of  a  commission  for  the  colonel  of  the  first  regiment,  and  commander 

of  the  regular  forces. 
"The  committee  of  safety  for  the  colony  of  Virginia  to  Patrick  Henry,  Esq. 

"Whereas  by  a  resolution  of  the  delegates  of  this  colony,  in  convention  as 
sembled,  it  was  determined  that  you,  the  said  Patrick  Henry,  Esq.,  should  be 


12$  WiRT^S    LIFE   OF 

and  committee  of  safety  acting  under  their  authority^  the  abso 
lute  direction  of  the  troops.  The  dispute  between  you  must 
be  occasioned,  I  suppose,  (for  I  have  not  seen  your  letter  to 
the  colonel,)  by  disregard  of  him  as  a  commander,  after  the 
adjournment  of  the  committee  of  safety,  and  before  the  meet 
ing  of  the  convention;  at  which  time,  I  am  apt  to  think,  though 
I  am  not  military  man  enough  to  determine,  your  correspond 
ence  should  have  been  with  him  as  commanding  officer. 

"I  have  talked  with  Colonel  Henry  about  this  matter;  he 
thinks  he  has  been  ill  treated,  and  insists  the  officers  under  his 
command  shall  submit  to  his  orders.  I  recommended  it  to 
him  to  treat  the  business  with  caution  and  temper ;  as  a  differ 
ence  at  this  critical  moment  between  our  troops  would  be  at«- 
tended  with  the  most  fatal  consequences ;  and  took  the  liberty 
to  assure  him  you  would,  I  was  certain,  submit  to  whatever 
was  thought  just  and  reasonable.  He  has  laid  the  letter  before 
the  committee  of  safety,  whose  sentiments  upon  the  subject  I 
expect  you  must  have  received  before  this.  I  hope  it  will  not 
come  before  the  convention^  but  from  what  Colonel  Henry 
said,  he  intimated  it  must,  as  it  could  be  no  otherwise  deter 
mined. 

"  My  sentiments  upon  that  delicate  point,  I  partly  communi*- 
cated  upon  the  expected  junction  of  the  Carolina  troops  with 

colonel  of  the  first  regiment  of  regulars,  and  commander-in-chief  of  all  the 
forces  to  be  raised  for  the  protection  and  defence  of  this  colony  ;  and  by  ah 
ordinance  of  the  same  convention  it  is  provided,  that  the  committee  tif  safety 
should  issue  all  military  commissions  :  Now,  in  pursuance  of  the  said  power  to 
us  granted,  and  in  conformity  to  the  appointment  of  the  convention,  we,  the 
said  committee  of  safety,  do  constitute  and  commission  you,  the  said  Patrick 
Henry,  Esq.,  colonel  of  the  first  regiment  of  regulars,  and  commander-in-chief 
of  all  such  other  forces  as  may,  by  order  of  the  convention,  or  committee  of  safe 
ty,  be  directed  to  act  in  conjunction  with  them;  and  with  the  said  forces,  or  any 
of  them,  you  are  hereby  empowered  to  resist  and  repel  all  hostile  invasions,  and 
quell  and  suppress  any  insurrections  which  may  be  made  or  attempted 
against  the  peace  and  safety  of  this  his  majesty's  colony  and  dominion. 

"And  we  do  require  you  to  exert  your  utmost  efforts  for  the  promotion  of  dis 
cipline  and  order  among  the  officers  and  soldiers  under  your  command,  agreeable 
to  such  ordinances,  rules,  and  articles,  which  are  now  or  hereafter  may  be,  institu 
ted  for  the  government  and  regulation  of  the  army ;  and  that  you  pay  due  obe 
dience  to  all  orders  and  instructions,  which,  from  time  to  time,  you  may  receive 
from  the  convention  or  committee  of  safety  ;  to  hold,  exercise,  and  enjoy  the 
said  office  of  colonel  and  commander-in-chief  of  the  forces,  and  to  perform 
and  execute  the  power  and  authority  aforesaid,  and  all  other  things  which  are 
truly  and  of  right  incidental  to  your  said  office,  during  the  pleasure  of  the 
'convention,  and  no  longer.  And  we  do  hereby  require  and,  command  all  officers 
and  soldiers,  and  every  person  whatsoever,  in  any  way  concerned,  to  be  obedient 
and  assisting  to  you  in  all  things,  touching  the  due  execution  of  this  commis 
sion,  according  to  the  purport  or  intent  thereof. 

"  Given  under  our  hands  at  this  day  of  Anno 

ttom.  177  ." 


PATRICK    HENRY.  129 

ourg  which  I  presume  you  have  received.  By  your  letter  yes 
terday  to  the  president,  I  find  you  agree  with  me.  I  very  cor 
dially  congratulate  you  on  the  success  at  the  Bridge  and  the 
reduction  of  the  fort,  which  will  give  our  troops  the  benefit  of 
better  and  more  wholesome  ground.  Your  letter  came  to  the 
convention  just  time  enough  to  read  it  before  we  broke  up,  as 
it  was  nearly  dark ;  it  was  however  proposed  and  agreed,  that 
the  president  should  transmit  you  the  approbation  of  your  con 
duct  in  treating  with  kindness  and  humanity  the  unfortunate 
prisoners ;  and  that  your  readiness  to  avoid  dispute  about  rank 
with  Colonel  Howe,  they  consider  as  a  further  mark  of  your 
attachment  to  the  service  of  your  country. 

"  I  have  had  it  in  contemplation  paying  you  a  visit,  but  have 
not  been  able  to  leave  the  convention,  as  many  of  our  members 
are  absent  and  seem  to  be  in  continual  rotation,  some  going,, 
others  returning.  We  shall  raise  many  more  battalions,  and, 
as  soon  as  practicable,  arm  some  vessels.  A  commander  or  gen 
eral,  I  suppose,  will  be  sent  us  by  the  congress,  as  it  is  expect 
ed  our  troops  will  be  upon  continental  pay.  I  pray  God  to- 
protect  you,  and  prosper  all  your  endeavours." 

But  the  letter  from  the  chairman  of  the  committee,  which 
enclosed  the  resolution  is  a  masterpiece  of  address,  so  far  as 
relates  to  the  feelings  of  Colonel  Woodford  ;  though  certainly 
not  well  judged  to  promote  the  permanent  harmony  of  those 
officers,  by  inspiring  sentiments  of  respect  and  subordination 
for  the  superior.  The  letter  bears  date  on  the  twenty-fourth 
of  December,  seventeen  hundred  and  seventy-five ;  it  is  writ 
ten  in  a  strain  of  the  most  frank  and  conciliatory  friendship — 
full  of  deserved  eulogy  on  Colonel  Woodford's  conduct — and 
very  far  from  complimentary  to  the  colonel  of  the  first  regiment. 

In  relation  to  this  gentleman,  (after  having  mentioned  the 
resolution  of  raising  other  regiments,)  he  says:  "The  field- 
officers  to  each  regiment  will  be  named  here,  and  recommend 
ed  to  congress  ;  in  case  our  army  is  taken  into  continental  pay, 
they  wilt  send  commissions.  A  general  officer  will  be  chosen 
there,  I  doubt  not,  and  sent  us ;  with  that  matter,  I  hope  we 
shall  not  intermeddle,  lest  it  should  be  thought  propriety  re 
quires  our  calling'  or  rather  recommending  our  present  first 
officer  to  that  station. 

"  Believe  me,  sir,  the  unlucky  step  of  calling  that  gentleman 
from  our  councils,  where  he  was  useful,  into  the  field,  in  an- 
important  station,  the  duties  of  which  he  must,  in  the  nature  of 
things,  be  an  entire  stranger  to,  has  given  me  many  an  anxious 
and  uneasy  moment.  In  consequence  of  this  mistaken  step,, 
which  cannot  now  be  retracted  or  remedied,  for  he  has  done 
c.otfeing  worthy  of  degradation,  and  must  keep  his  rank,  we 


130  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

must  be  deprived  of  the  service  of  some  able  officers,  whose 
honour  and  former  ranks  will  not  suffer  them  to  act  under  him 
in  this  juncture,  when  we  so  much  need  their  services  ;  how 
ever,  I  am  told,  that  Mercer,  Buckner,  Dangerfield,  and  Wee- 
den,  will  serve,  and  are  all  thought  of.  I  am  also  told,  that 
Mr.  Thurston  and  Mr.  Millikin  are  candidates  for  regiments : 
the  latter,  I  believe,  will  raise,  and  have  a  German  one.  In 
the  course  of  these  reflections,  my  great  concern  is  on  your 
account. 

"The  pleasure  I  have  enjoyed  in  finding  your  army  conduct 
ed  with  wisdom  and  success,  and  your  conduct  meet  with  the 
general  approbation  of  the  convention  and  country,  makes  me 
more  uneasy  at  a  thought  that  the  country  should  be  deprived 
of  your  services,  or  you  made  uneasy  in  it,  by  any  untoward 
circumstances.  I  had  seen  your  letter  to  our  friend  Mr.  Jones, 
(now  a  member  of  the  committee  of  safety,)  and  besides  that, 
Colonel  Henry  has  laid  before  the  committee  your  letter  to 
him,  and  desired  our  opinion  whether  he  was  to  command  you 
or  not. 

"We  never  determined  this  till  Friday  evening;  a  copy  of 
the  resolution  I  enclose  you.  If  this  will  not  be  agreeable,  and 
prevent  future  disputes,  I  hope  some  happy  medium  will  be 
suggested  to  effect  the  purpose,  and  make  you  easy ;  for  the 
colony  cannot  part  with  you,  while  troops  are  necessary  to  be 
continued." 

Mr.  Henry  had  too  much  sagacity  not  to  perceive  the  light  ] 
in  which  he  was  viewed  by  the  committee  of  safety,  and  too 
much  sensibility  not  to  be  wounded  by  the  discovery.  His 
situation  was  indeed,  at  this  time,  most  painfully  embarrassing. 
The  rank  which  he  had  held  was  full  of  the  promise  of  honour 
•and  distinction;  he  was  the  first  officer  of  the  Virginia  forces  ; 
the  celebrity  which  he  had  already  attained  among  his  country 
men,  not  only  by  his  political  resistance  to  the  measures  of  the 
British  parliament,  but  by  the  bold  and  daring  military  enter 
prise  which  he  had  headed  the  preceding  year,  in  the  affair  of 
the  gunpowder,  led  his  countrymen  to  expect,  that  the  appoint 
ment  which  he  now  held  would  not  be  a  barren  one,  but  that 
he  would  mark  it  with  the  characters  of  his  extraordinary  ge 
nius,  and  become  as  distinguished  in  the  field  as  he  had  been  in 
the  senate. 

He  knew  that  these  expectations  were  entertained,  and  had 
every  disposition  to  realize  them;  but  his  wishes  and  his  hopes 
were  perpetually  overruled  by  the  committee  of  safety,  who 
commanded  over  him,  and  who  gratuitously  distrusting  his  ca 
pacity  for  war,  would  give  him  no  opportunity  of  making  trial 
of  it  Yet  Mr.  Henry,  untried,  has  been  most  unjustly  slighted 


PATRICK    HENRY.  131 

as  a  soldier,  and  spoken  of  as  a  mere  military  cipher !  If  I 
have  not  been  misinformed,  some  of  those  who  composed  this 
very  committee  did,  in  aftertimes,  frequently  allude  to  this  pe 
riod  of  his  life,  to  prove  the  practical  inutility  of  his  character, 
and  have  applied  to  him  the  saying,  which  Wilkes  applied  to 
Lord  Chatham,  that  "all  his  power  and  efficacy  was  seated  in 
his  tongue."* 

What  figure  he  might  have  made  in  war,  had  the  opportu 
nity  been  allowed  him,  can  now  be  only  matter  of  speculation* 
His  personal  bravery,  so  far  as  I  have  heard,  has  never  beer* 
called  in  question  ;  or  if  it  has,  it  has  been  without  evidence : 
and  neither  his  ardour  in  the  public  cause,  nor  his  strong  natu 
ral  sense,  can  with  any  colour  of  justice  be  disputed.  If  we 
siiperadd  to  these  qualities  that  presence  of  mind,  that  prompti 
tude,  boldness,  and  novelty  of  view — that  dexterous  address, 
and  fertility  of  expedient,  for  which  he  was  remarkable — I  can 
see  no  reason  to  doubt,  that  he  would  have  justified  the  highest 
expectations  of  his  admirers,  had  he  been  permitted  to  com 
mand  the  expedition  which  he  courted. 

As  to  his  want  of  experience,  the  alleged  ground  for  keep 
ing  him  so  ignominiously  confined  to  headquarters,  he  pos 
sessed  pretty  nearly  as  much  experience  as  Colonel  Washing 
ton  had  when  he  covered  the  retreat  of  Braddock's  routed 
forces  ;  as  much,  too,  as  those  young  generals  of  ours  who 
have  recently  covered  themselves  with  so  much  glory  on  our 
northern  frontier  :  nor  would  it  seem  to  comport  with  that  re 
spect  which  the  committee  owed  to  the  convention,  from  whom 
both  Colonel  Henry  and  themselves  had  received  their  respect 
ive  appointments,  to  arrogate  the  power  of  reversing  the  decree 
of  the  convention,  and  practically  degrading  the  officer  of  their 
first  choice.  It  is  certain  that  the  committee  were  severely 
spoken  of  at  the  day,  and  that  the  people,  as  well  as  the 
soldiery,  did  not  hesitate  openly  to  impute  their  conduct  toward 
Mr.  Henry  -to  personal  envy. 

Other  humiliations  yet  awaited  him.  Shortly  after  the  affair 
of  the  Great  Bridge,  Colonel  Howe,  of  North  Carolina,  at  the 
head  of  five  or  six  hundred  men  of  that  state,  joined  Colonel 
Woodford  ;  and  taking  the  command  of  the  whole,  with  the 
Consent  of  the  latter  gentleman,  who  yielded  to  the  seniority  of 
his  commission,  marched  with  their  united  forces  into  Norfolk, 
which  had  been  evacuated  by  the  British.  From  this  post 
Colonel  Howe  continually  addressed  his  communications  to  the 
committee  of  safety,  or  to  the  convention  ;  and  Colonel  Henry, 

*— homines  inertissimi,  quorurji  omnis  vis,  virtusguc  in  lingua  sita  est. 

Sallust  Oratio  sec.  De  Rep.  Ord, 


132  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

after  having  seen  his  lawful  rights  and  honours  transferred  in 
the  first  instance,  to  an  inferior  officer  of  his  own,  had  now 
the  mortification  of  seeing  himself  completely  superseded,  and 
almost  annihilated,  by  an  officer  from  another  state  of  only 
equal  rank. 

But  even  this  was  not  all :  six  additional  regiments  had  been 
raised  by  the  convention,  and  congress  had  been  solicited  to 
take  the  Virginia  troops  on  continental  establishment.  They 
resolved  to  take  the  six  new  regiments,  passing  by  the  two  first; 
a  discrimination  which  conveys  so  palpable  a  reflection  on  the 
two  first  regiments,  that  it  is  difficult  to  account  for  it,  except 
by  the  secret  influence  of  that  unfriendly  star,  which  had  hith 
erto  controlled  and  obscured  Mr.  Henry's  military  destinies. 
The  measure  was  so  exactly  adjusted  to  the  wish  expressed  by 
Colonel  Woodford's  correspondent,  that  congress  would  not 
devolve  the  chief  command  of  the  Virginia  forces  on  Colonel 
Henry,  that  it  is  difficult  to  avoid  the  suspicion  that  the  sug 
gestion  came  from  the  same  quarter. 

The  convention,  however,  now  interfered  in  behalf  of  their 
favourite;  and  remonstrated  against  this  degradation  of  the 
officers  of  their  first  choice  ;  earnestly  recommending  it  to 
congress,  if  they  adhered  to  their  resolution  of  taking  into  con 
tinental  pay  no  more  than  six  regiments,  to  suffer  the  two  first 
to  stand  first  in  the  arrangement.  This  course  was  accordingly 
adopted;  but,  at  the  same  time,  commissions  of  brigadier* 
general  were  forwarded  by  congress  to  Colonel  Howe,  and  I 
Colonel  Andrew  Lewis. 

The  reader,  if  he  knows  anything  of  the  scrupulous  and 
even  fastidious  delicacy  with  which  military  officers  watch  the 
most  distant  reflection  upon  their  competency,  will  not  be  sur 
prised  that  Mr.  Henry  refused  the  continental  commission  of 
colonel,*  which  was  now  offered  to  him  and  immediately  re- 

*  The  following  is  an  exact  copy  of  the  commission  sent  from  the  general 
congress  to  the  committee  of  safety,  appointing  Colonel  Henry  to  the  com 
mand  of  the  first  regiment,  or  battalion,  in  this  colony,  taken  upon  the  conti 
nental  establishment,  agreeable  to  the  requisition  of  the  last  convention  : — 

"I\  CONGRESS. 

"The  delegates  of  the  United  Colonies  of  New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts 
bay,  Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  the 
counties  of  New  Castle,  Kent,  and  Sussex,  on  Delaware,  Maryland,  Virgin 
ia,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  and  Georgia,  to  Patrick  Henry,  Esq.  : — 
"  We,  reposing  especial  trust    and   confidence   in  your  patriotism,  valour, 
conduct,  and  fidelity,  do,  by  these  presents  constitute  and  appoint  you  to  be 
colonel  of  the  first  battalion  of  Virginia  forces,  in  the  army  of  the  United  Col 
onies,  raised  for  the  defence  of  American  liberty,  and  for  repelling  every  hos 
tile  invasion  thereof.     You  are,  therefore,  carefully  and  diligently  to  discharge 


PATRICK    HENRY.  133 

signed  that  which  he  held  from  the  state.  His  resignation  pro 
duced  a  commotion  in  the  camp,  which  wore  at  first  an  alarm 
ing  aspect ;  and  would  probably  have  had  an  extremely  unpro- 
pitious  effect  on  the  military  efforts  of  the  state,  had  it  not  been 
instantaneously  quelled  by  his  own  patriotic  exertions.  The 
following  is  the  notice  of  this  transaction  from  Purdie's  paper 

of  March  first,  seventeen  hundred  and  seventy-six  : 

"Yesterday  morning,  the  troops  in  this  city  being  informed 
that  Patrick  Henry,  esquire,  commander-in-chief  of  the  Virginia 
forces,  was  about  to  leave  them,  the  whole  went  into  deep 
mourning,  and  being  under  arms,  waited  on  him  at  his  lodg 
ings,  when  they  addressed  him  in  the  following  manner: — 

" «  To  Patrick  Henry,  jun.,  Esquire. 

"  » Deeply  impressed  with  a  grateful  sense  of  the  obligations 
we  lie  under  to  you,  for  the  polite,  humane,  and  tender  treat 
ment  manifested  to  us  through  the  whole  of  your  conduct, 
while  we  had  the  honour  of  being  under  your  command,  per 
mit  us  to  offer  you  our  sincere  thanks,  as  the  only  tribute  we 
have  in  our  power  to  pay  to  your  real  merits.  Notwithstand 
ing  your  withdrawing  yourself  from  the  service  fills  us  with 
the  most  poignant  sorrow,  as  it  at  once  deprives  us  of  our 
father  and  general ;  yet,  as  gentlemen,  we  are  compelled  to 
applaud  your  spirited  resentment  to  the  most  glaring  indigni 
ty.  May  your  merit  shine  as  conspicuous  to  the  world  in  gen 
eral,  as  it  hath  done  to  us,  and  may  Heaven  shower  its  choicest 
blessings  upon  you !' 

"  To  which  he  returned  the  following  answer  : — 
"  *  GENTLEMEN — I  am  exceedingly  obliged  to  you  for  your 
approbation  of  my  conduct.     Your  address  does  me  the  high 
est  honour.     This  kind  testimony  of  your  regard  to  me  would 
have  been  an  ample  reward  for  services  much  greater  than 

the  duty  of  colonel,  by  doing  and  performing  all  manner  of  things  thereunto 
belonging. 

"  And  we  do  strictly  charge  and  require  all  officers  and  soldiers  under  your 
command  to  be  obedient  to  your  orders  as  colonel.  And  you  are  to  observe 
and  follow  such  orders  and  directions,  from  time  to  time,  as  you  shall  receive 
from  this  or  a  future  congress  of  the  United  Colonies,  or  committee  of  con 
gress,  for  that  purpose  appointed,  or  commander-in-chief  for  the  time  being  of 
the  army  of  the  United  Colonies,  or  any  other  superior  officer,  according  to 
the  rules  and  discipline  of  war,  in  pursuance  of  the  trust  reposed  in  you.  This 
commission  to  continue  in  force  until  revoked  by  this  or  a  future  congress. 
"  By  order  of  the  Congress, 

"  JOHN  HANCOCK,  President. 
«  Attest, 

"CHARLES  THOMSON,  Secretary. 
"Philadelphia,  Feb.  13M,  1776." 

12 


134 

those  /  have  had  the  power  to  perform.  I  return  you,  and 
each  of  you,  gentlemen,  my  best  acknowledgments  for  the 
spirit,  alacrity,  and  zeal  you  have  constantly  shown  in  your 
several  stations.  I  am  unhappy  to  part  with  you.  I  leave  the 
service,  but  I  leave  my  heart  with  you.  May  God  bless  you, 
and  give  you  success  and  safety,  and  make  you  the  glorious 
instrument  of  saving  our  country.' 

"  After  the  officers  had  received  Colonel  Henry's  kind  an* 
swer  to  their  address,  they  insisted  upon  his  dining  with  them 
at  the  Raleigh  tavern,  before  his  departure  :  and  after  dinner  a 
number  of  them  proposed  escorting  him  out  of  town,  but  were 
prevented  in  their  resolution  by  some  uneasiness  getting  among 
the  soldiery,  who  assembled  in  a  tumultuous  manner,  and  de 
manded  their  discharge,  declaring  their  unwillingness  to  serve 
under  any  other  commander ;  upon  which  Colonel  Henry 
found  it  necessary  to  stay  a  night  longer  in  town ;  which  he 
spent  in  visiting  the  several  barracks,  and  used  every  argument 
in  his  power  with  the  soldiery,  to  lay  aside  their  imprudent 
resolution,  and  to  continue  in  the  service  which  he  had  quitted 
from  motives  in  which  his  honour  alone  was  concerned ;  and 
that,  although  he  was  prevented  from  serving  his  country  in  a 
military  capacity,  yet  his  utmost  abilities  should  be  exerted  for 
the  real  interest  of  the  united  colonies,  in  support  of  the  glori 
ous  cause  in  which  they  have  engaged. 

"  This,  accompanied  with  the  extraordinary  exertions  of 
Colonel  Christian  and  other  officers  present,  happily  produced 
the  desired  effect,  the  soldiers  reluctantly  acquiescing:  and  we 
have  now  the  pleasure  to  assure  the  public,  that  those  brave 
fellows  are  now  pretty  well  reconciled,  and  will  spend  the  last 
drop  of  their  blood  in  their  country's  defence." 

This  is  the  man  who  has  been  sometimes  branded  as  a  tur 
bulent,  seditious,  factious  djemagogue  !  Had  he  been  of  this 
character,  what  an  occasion  was  here  to  have  provoked  it  to 
action  !  This  love  for  the  man  and  the  officer,  and  this  resent 
ment  of  the  indignities  to  which  he  had  been  subjected,  were  not 
confined  to  the  camp  at  Williamsburgh  ;  they  pervaded  the 
whole  army,  and  were  felt  and  expressed  by  the  following  ad 
dress,  signed  by  upward  of  ninety  officers  at  Kemp's  landing 
and  Suffolk,  (in  Colonel  Woodford's  camp,)  as  well  as  at  Wil 
liamsburgh  ;  and  printed  by  their  desire  in  Purdie's  paper  of 
the  twenty-second  of  March,  seventeen  hundred  and  seventy- 
five  : — 

•;  SiR-^-Deeply  concerned  for  the  good  of  our  country,  we 
sincerely  lament  the  unhappy  necessity  of  your  resignation, 
and  with  all  the  warmth  of  affection  assure  you,  that,  whatever 
may  have  given  rise  to  the  indignity  lately  offered  to  you,  we 


PATRICK    HENRY.  135 

join  with  the  general  voice  of  the  people,  and  think  it  our  duty 
to  make  this  public  declaration  of  our  high  respect  for  your 
distinguished  merit.  To  your  vigilance  and  judgment  as  a 
senator  this  united  continent  bears  ample  testimony ;  while  she 
prosecutes  her  steady  opposition  to  those  destructive  ministe 
rial  measures  which  your  eloquence  first  pointed  out  and  taught 
to  resent,  and  your  resolution  led  forward  to  resist. 

"  To  your  extensive  popularity  the  service  also  is  greatly  in 
debted,  for  the  expedition  with  which  the  troops  were  raised  ; 
and,  while  they  were  continued  under  your  command,  the  firm 
ness,  candour,  and  politeness,  which  formed  the  complexion  of 
your  conduct  toward  them,  obtained  the  signal  approbation  of 
the  wise  and  virtuous,  and  will  leave  upon  our  minds  the  most 
grateful  impression.  Although  retired  from  the  immediate 
concerns  of  war,  we  solicit  the  continuance  of  your  kindly  at 
tention.  We  know  your  attachment  to  the  best  of  causes  ;  we 
have  the  fullest  confidence  in  your  abilities,  and  in  the  recti 
tude  of  your  views  ;  and  however  willing-  the  envious  may  be 
lo  undermine  an  established  reputation,  we  trust  the  day  will 
come,  when  justice  shall  prevail,  and  thereby  secure  you  an 
honourable  and  happy  return  to  the  glorious  employment  of 
conducting  our  councils,  and  hazarding  your  life  in  the  defence 
of  your  country. 

"  With  the  most  grateful  sentiments  of  regard  and  esteem, 
we  are,  sir,  very  respectfully,  your  most  obliged  and  obedient 
humble  servants." 

If  any  doubt  can  be  entertained  as  to  the  body  to  which  this 
imputation  of  envy  pointed,  it  will  be  removed  by  the  following 
defence  of  the  committee  of  safety,  extracted  from  the  sup 
plement  to  Purdie's  paper  of  the  fifteenth  of  March,  seventeen 
hundred  and  seventy-six  : — 

"MR.  PURDIE — I  am  informed  a  report  is  prevailing  through 
the  colony,  that  the  committee  of  safety  were  the  cause  of 
Colonel  Henry's  resigning  the  command  of  his  battalion ;  which 
it  is  supposed  hath  received  confirmation  from  the  address  of 
the  officers  to  that  gentleman,  in  which  they  speak  of  a  glar 
ing  indignity  having  been  offered  him,  if  it  was  not  wholly 
derived  from  that  source.  That  the  good  people  of  the  coun 
try  may  be  truly  informed  in  this  matter,  the  following  state  of 
facts  is  submitted,  without  comment,  to  the  impartial  judgment 
of  the  public  : — 

"As  soon  as  the  last  convention  had  voted  the  raising  seven 
new  battalions  of  troops,  besides  augmenting  the  old  ones,  the 
committee  of  safety  informed  our  delegates  to  congress  of  that 
vote,  desiring  they  would  use  their  best  endeavours  to  have  the 
whole  supported  at  continental  expense  ;  in  answer  to  which, 


136  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

a  letter  was  received  from  the  delegates,  dated  the  thirtieth  o( 
December,  of  which  the  following  is  an  extract :  '  The  resolu 
tions  of  congress  for  taking  our  six  additional  [they  would  not 
agree  to  take  our  other  two]  battalions,  into  continental  pay, 
and  for  permitting  an  exportation  for  supplying  our  country 
men  with  salt,  are  enclosed.' 

"  It  was  supposed  from  hence,  an  intention  prevailed  in  con 
gress  to  pass  by  the  two  old  battalions,  and  take  six  of  the 
new  ones  into  continental  pay ;  which,  as  it  was  said  those 
officers  would  take  precedency  of  provincial  ones  of  equal  rank, 
was  generally  thought  wrong,  since  it  would  degrade  the  offi 
cers  of  the  two  first  battalions  ;  and,  to  avoid  this,  the  conven 
tion  came  to  a  resolution,  the  tenth  of  January,  of  which  the 
following  is  part :  '  Should  the  congress  adhere  to  their  reso 
lution  of  taking  into  continental  pay  no  more  than  six  battal 
ions,  let  it  be  earnestly  recommended  to  them  to  suffer  our  two 
present  battalions  (to  be  completed  as  before  mentioned)  to 
stand  first  in  the  arrangement ;  since,  otherwise,  the  officers 
first  appointed  by  this  convention,  most  of  whom  have  already 
gone  through  a  laborious  and  painful  service,  will  be  degraded 
in  their  ranks,  and  there  is  too  much  reason  to  apprehend  that 
great  confusion  will  ensue.' 

"  The  worthy  gentlemen  (not  a  member  of  the  committee  of 
safety)  who  proposed  this  resolution,  informed  the  convention, 
he  had  consulted  some  of  the  officers  of  the  first  regiment,  who 
wished  to  have  their  rank  preserved,  though  it  was  foreseen 
the  pay  would  be  reduced. 

"  The  committee  of  safety,  in  a  letter  to  the  delegates,  dated 
the  twenty-fifth  of  January,  enclosing  this  resolution,  thus 
write  :  '  You  have  a  list  of  the  field  officers  as  they  stand  re 
commended,  and  we  doubt  not  receiving  the  commissions  in 
the  like  order,  with  blanks  for  the  proper  number  of  captains 
and  subalterns.  If,  however,  the  resolution  of  congress  should 
be  unalterably  fixed  to  allow  us  but  six  battalions,  you  will 
please  to  attend  to  that  part  of  the  resolve  which  recommends 
their  being  the  first  six,  as  a  point  of  great  consequence  to  our 
harmony,  in  which  may  be  involved  the  good  of  the  common 
cause.' 

"  The  committee  of  safety  afterward  received  the  commis 
sions  wholly  filled  up  for  the  field  officers  of  six  battalions,  in 
the  rank  they  stood  recommended  by  the  convention,  begin 
ning  with  Colonel  Henry,  and  ending  with  Colonel  Buckner  of 
the  sixth  battalion,  with  directions  to  deliver  them.  Colonel 
Henry  was  accordingly  offered  his  commission,  which  he  de 
clined  accepting,  and  retired  without  assigning  any  reasons. 

"As  to  the  general  officers,  the  convention   left  them  en- 


PATRICK    HENRY.  137 

tirely  to  the  choice  of  the  congress,  without  recommenda 
tion  ;  nor  did  the  committee  of  safety  at  all  intermeddle  in  that 
choice.  "A  FRIEND  TO  TRUTH." 

Immediately  following  this  defence  of  the  committee,  in  the 
same  paper,  are  the  two  following  articles  : — 

"  MR.  PURDIE — The  address  of  the  officers  to  Colonel  Hen 
ry,  and  the  colonel's  reply,  have  led  some  of  our  enemies  to 
hope  that  there  would  be  great  discontent  in  the  army,  by 
which  our  military  operations  would  be  retarded,  and  that  there 
would  be  a  considerable  murmuring  against  the  congress  ;  but 
they  are  much  mistaken.  It  is  true  the  soldiers  and  officers 
were  very  unhappy  at  parting  with  so  amiable  a  commander  as 
Colonel  Henry  ;  and  might  be  a  little  imprudent  in  some  ex 
pressions  on  the  occasion ;  but  there  is  not  a  man  of  them  who 
is  riot  so  warmly  attached  to  the  glorious  cause  he  is  engaged 
in,  as  to  serve  with  alacrity  under  any  commander,  rather  than 
it  should  suffer. 

"  And  Colonel  Henry  himself  is  a  gentleman  of  so  much 
honour,  and  so  true  a  patriot,  that  he  will  never  countenance  a 
murmur  against  the  congress ;  nay  so  far  from  it,  that  it  is 
highly  probable  he  will  soon  be  found  in  that  august  assembly, 
Urging  with  his  powerful  eloquence,  the  necessity  of  prosecu 
ting  the  war  with  redoubled  vigour.  I  am  a  sincere  friend  to 
the  congress  and  to  Colonel  Henry." 

"  Mr  Purdie, 

et '  Envy  will  merit  as  its  shade  pursue  : 

But,  like  the  shadow,  proves  the  substance  true.' — POPE. 

"I  was  not  surprised  to  see,  in  your  last  week's  gazette,  the 
resignation  of  Patrick  Henry,  esquire,  late  commander-in-chief 
of  all  the  Virginia  forces,  and  colonel  of  the  tirst  regiment. 
From  that  gentleman's  amiable  disposition,  his  invariable  per 
severance  in  the  cause  of  liberty,  we  apprehend  that  envy 
strove  to  bury  in  obscurity  his  martial  talents.  Fettered  and 
confined,  with  only  an  empty  title,  the  mere  echo  of  authority, 
his  superior  abilities  lay  inactive,  nor  could  be  exerted  for 
his  honour,  or  his  country'' s  good. 

"Virginia  may  truly  boast,  that  in  him  she  finds  the  able 
statesman,  the  soldier's  father,  the  best  of  citizens,  and  liber 
ty's  dear  friend.  Clad  with  innocence,  as  in  a  coat-of-mail.  he 
is  proof  against  every  serpentile  whisper.  The  officers  and 
soldiers,  who  know  him,  are  riveted  to  his  bosom ;  when  he 
speaks,  all  is  silence ;  when  he  orders,  they  cheerfully  obey  ; 
and  in  the  field,  under  so  sensible,  so  prudent  an  officer,  though 
hosts  oppose  them,  with  shouts  they  meet  their  armed  foe,  the 
sure  presages  of  victory  and  success. 

12* 


138  WIRT'S  LIFE  or 

"Let  us,  my  countrymen,  with  grateful  hearts,  remember 
that  he  carried  off  the  standard  of  liberty,  and  defeated  Gren- 
ville  in  his  favourite  stamp-act. 

" '  While  many  dreaded,  till  with  pleasing  eye, 
Saw  tyranny  before  brave  Henry  fly.' 

"  I  am,  Mr.  Purdie,  your  friend,  and  a  well-wisher  to  "Vir 
ginia.  k<  AN  HONEST  FARMER." 

It  is  very  clear  from  the  last  piece,  as  well  as  from  the  ad 
dress  of  the  ninety  officers,  which  has  been  already  given,  and 
which  was  published  by  their  desire  in  a  paper  subsequent  to 
that  which  contains  the  defence  of  the  committee,  that  that  de 
fence  had  been  by  no  means  satisfactory ;  and  that  either  the 
committee  as  a  body,  or  what  is  more  probable,  some  individ 
ual  or  individuals  of  it,  were  still  believed  to  have  had  a  secret 
hand  in  planning  and  directing  the  series  of  indignities  which 
had  driven  Mr.  Henry  from  a  military  life. 

It  would  seem  that  the  truly  respectable  and  venerable  chair 
man  of  that  committee  came  in  at  the  time  for  his  full  propor 
tion  of  this  censure,  and  that  he  smarted  severely  under  it: 
this  I  infer,  from  a  letter  of  his  to  Colonel  Woodford  some 
time  afterward,  in  answer  to  one  by  which  that  gentleman  had 
consulted  him  as  to  the  propriety  of  his  resigning  his  commis 
sion.  After  having  dissuaded  him  from  this  step  by  other  top 
ics,  he  proceeds  thus  : — "I  am  apprehensive  that  your  resigna 
tion  will  be  handled  to  your  disadvantage,  from  a  certain 
quarter,  where  all  reputations  are  sacrificed  for  the  sake  of 
one ;  what  does  it  signify,  that  he  resigned  without  any  such 
cause,  or  assigning  any  reason  at  all  ?  it  is  not  without  exam 
ple,  that  others  should  be  censured  for  what  he  is  applauded 
for." 

This  acrimony,  so  unusual  from  a  man  of  Mr  Pendleton's 
benevolence  and  courtesy,  could  have  been  wrung  from  him 
only  by  the  bitterest  provocations  ;  and  renders  it  highly  prob 
able,  that  the  numerous  and  enthusiastic  admirers  of  Mr.  Hen 
ry  had  implicated  this  gentleman  deeply  in  the  indignities 
which  had  recently  been  offered  to  their  favourite. 

The  necessity  of  placing  this  incident  of  Mr.  Henry's  life 
in  its  true  light,  upon  the  evidence  in  my  possession,  has  im 
posed  upon  me  a  very  painful  duty  in  regard  to  Mr.  Pendleton. 
With  the  justice  or  injustice  of  the  construction  placed  upon 
his  conduct  in  relation  to  Mr.  Henry,  I  have  nothing  to  do. 
Even  if  just,  the  infirmity  of  human  nature  may  be  easily  ex 
cused  in  feeling  some  uneasiness  at  the  eclipsing  brightness 
with  which  Mr.  Henry  had  rushed,  like  a  comet,  ttf  the  head  of 
affairs  in  Virginia. 


PATRICK    HENRY.  139 

It  demands,  however,  no  uncommon  measure  of  charity  to 
believe,  that  what  was  imputed  to  envy  at  the  time,  proceeded, 
so  far  as  Mr.  Pendleton  was  concerned,  from  a  single  eye  to 
the  public  good,  and  a  sincere  belief  on  his  part,  (an  opinion 
in  which  he  was  by  no  means  singular,)  that  Mr.  Henry's  inex 
perience  in  military  affairs  made  it  unsafe  to  commit  to  his 
management  the  infancy  of  our  war. 

The  people  required  to  be  animated  by  success  in  the  onset ; 
and  it  was  therefore  very  natural  in  the  committee  of  safety,  on 
whom  the  responsibility  for  the  management  of  the  war  de 
volved,  to  select,  for  the  first  enterprises,  the  most  experienced 
commander.  Mr.  Pendleton  was  too  virtuous  a  man,  and  too 
faithful  a  patriot,  to  have  yielded  consciously  to  any  other 
motive  of  action  than  the  public  good.  His  country  has  fixed 
its  seal  upon  his  exalted  character,  and  the  wrriter  of  these 
sketches  is  much  more  disposed  to  brighten  than  to  efface  the 
impression. 

The  motives  of  Mr.  Henry's  resignation  of  his  commission 
which  have  been  stated,  are  very  easily  and  clearly  deducible 
from  the  papers  of  the  day,  and  were  expressly  avowed  by  him 
to  his  confidential  friends  and  brother-in-law,  Colonel  Mere 
dith.*  To  other  friends,  however,  he  stated  that  he  was 
the  more  reconciled  to  the  necessity  which  had  compelled 
him  to  resign,  because  he  believed  that  he  could  perhaps  serve 
the  cause  of  his  country  more  effectually  in  the  public  councils 
than  in  the  field. f 

Immediately  upon  his  resignation  he  was  elected  a  delegate 
to  the  convention  from  the  county  of  Hanover.  The  session 
of  that  body,  which  was  now  coming  on,  was  pregnant  with 
importance.  Dunmore  had  abdicated  the  chair  of  government, 
and  the  royal  authority  in  the  colony  was  seen  and  felt  no  long 
er,  but  in  acts  of  hostility. 

The  king  had  declared  from  his  throne,  that  the  colonists. 
must  be  reduced  by  force  to  submit  to  the  British  claim  of  tax 
ation  ;  and  the  colonists,  on  their  part,  had  avowed  that  they 
never  would  submit  to  this  prostration  of  their  rights  ;  but,  on 

*  These  are  Colonel  Meredith's  words : — "  P.  H.  in  a  communication  to  Colo 
nel  M.  stated  his  motives  for  resigning  his  commission  as  colonel.  He  con 
ceived  himself  neglected,  by  younger  officers  having  been  put  above  him,  and 
preferred  to  him ;  particularly  in  the  affair  of  the  Great  Bridge,  where  he  wish 
ed  to  have  commanded ;  but  Colonel  Woodford  received  that  appointment. 
He  disliked  his  being  kept  in  and  about  Williamsburgh,  and  not  appointed  to 
some  important  post  or  expedition.  He  was  thus  induced  to  think  he  'was 
neglected  by  those  «rho  had  the  power  of  appointment.  He  therefore  re 
signed." 

t  Judge  Tyler,  anv  Captain  George  Dabney. 


140  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

the  contrary,  that  they  would  hand  down  to  their  children  the 
birthright  of  liberty  which  they  had  enjoyed,  or  perish  in  the  at 
tempt.  On  this  quarrel  arms  had  been  taken  up  on  both  sides, 
and  the  appeal  had  been  made  to  the  God  of  battles.  The  war 
had  assumed  a  regular  and  settled  form ;  blood  had  been  pro 
fusely  shed  in  various  parts  of  the  continent,  and  reconcilia 
tion  had  become  hopeless. 

The  people  being  thus  abandoned  by  their  king,  put  out  of 
his  protection,  declared  in  a  state  of  open  rebellion,  and  treated 
as  enemies,  the  social  compact  which  had  united  the  monarch 
with  his  subjects  was  at  an  end  ;  the  colonial  constitution, 
which  could  be  set  and  kept  in  motion  only  by  the  presence 
and  agency  of  the  king  or  his  representative,  was  of  course  dis 
solved  ;  and  all  the  rights  and  pOwer/s  of  government  reverted, 
of  necessity,  to  their  source,  the  people.  These  causes  produ 
ced  the  convention. 

It  Was  the  organ  by  which  the  people  chose  to  exercise  the 
fundamental  rights  thus  thrown  back  upon  them,  by  the  disso^ 
•lutioh  of  the  regal  government.  It  was  the  substitute  for  the 
whole  government  which  had  been  withdrawn — legislative,  ex 
ecutive,  and  judiciary.  It  represented  the  whole  political  pow 
er  of  the  people  ;  and  had  been  expressly  elected  to  take  care 
of  the  republic.  The  means  of  accomplishing  this  object  were 
left  to  themselves,  without  limitation  or  restriction  on  the  part 
of  the  people. 

Hitherto,  while  any  hope  of  a  restoration  of  the  original  gov 
ernment  on  just  terms  could  be  entertained,  the  convention  had 
been  satisfied  with  temporary  expedients  ;  the  first  convention, 
however,  had  exercised  the  power  of  the  people  In  their  highest 
capacity,  by  adapting  a  species  of  constitution,  and  organizing  a 
government  under  it ;  thus  they  erected  an  executive,  under  the 
name  of  a  committee  of  safety,  which  the  people  recognised  as 
flowing  directly  from  themselves. 

Before 'the  meeting  of  the  convention  of  seventeen  hundred 
and  seventy-six,  however,  it  was  seen  and  well  understood  on 
every  hand,  that  the  contest  could  not  be  maintained  by  the  peo*- 
pie,  without  the  aid  of  regular  government :  and  that  the  polit 
ical  malady  of  which  they  complained,  could  be  extirpated  in 
no  other  way  than  by  applying  the  knife  to  the  root.  The 
newspapers  of  the  preceding  year  contain  frequent  suggestions 
of  this  kind;  the  impression  had  now  become  universal ;  and 
the  papers  present  specimens  of  explicit  instructions  from  the 
people  to  their  delegates  to  this  effect.* 

*The  following  arc  instructions  from  the  freeholders  of  James'  city  to  theif 
•'delegates : — 


PATRICK    HENRY.  141 

Thus  instructed  in  the  sentiments  of  their  constituents,  and 
representing  the  people  in  their  highest  sovereign  capacity,  the 
convention  met  on  the  sixth  of  May,  seventeen  hundred  and 
seventy-six,  in  the  old  capitol  in  the  city  of  Williamsburgh.  Mr. 
Pendleton  having  been  elected  president,  after  having  thanked 
the  house  for  the  honour  done  him,  addressed  them  with  great 
solemnity,  in  the  following  terms  : — "  We  are  now  met  in  general 
convention  according  to  the  ordinance  for  our  election,  at  a  time 
truly  critical,  when  subjects  of  the  most  important,  and  inter 
esting  nature  require  our  serious  attention. 

*'  The  administration  of  justice,  and  almost  all  the  powers  of 
government,  have  now  been  suspended  for  near  two  years.  It 
will  become  us  to  reflect  whether  we  can  longer  sustain  the 
great  struggle  we  are  making  in  this  situation."  Having  then 
directed  their  attention  to  certain  specific  subjects  which  re 
quired  attention,  he  concluded  his  short,  but  impressive  address, 
by  exhorting  the  members  to  calmness,  unanimity,  and  dili 
gence. 

"  To  Robert  C.  Nicholas,  and  William  Norvell,  Esquires  :— 

"  Gentlemen — In  vain  do  we  congratulate  ourselves  on  the  impotency  of 
the  minister  to  divide  us,  if  our  union  amounts  to  nothing  more  than  a  union 
in  one  common  lethargy.  War  hath  been  brought  into  our  houses,  heightened 
by  terrors  and  cruelties  which  the  justest  cause  wants  even  palliatives  for ;  but 
faint  advances  toward  peace,  insidiously  urged,  have  caught  the  ear  of  the 
credulous,  and  groundless  hopes  of  accommodation  deluded  the  timid,  so  that 
the  free  military  system  remains  untouched  in  most  essential  points.  As  if 
our  inexperience,  poverty  in  warlike  stores,  and  the  infancy  of  our  navy,  were 
of  trifling  moment,  we  have  ventured  to  neglect  resources  in  such  difficulties, 
which  Heaven  hath  placed  within  our  attainment. 

"  Alliances  may  be  formed  at  an  easy  price,  capable  of  supplying  these  dis 
advantages,  but  an  independent  state  disdains  to  humble  herself  to  an  equality 
in  treaty  with  another,  who  cannot  call  her  politics  her  own ;  or  to  be  explicit, 
she  cannot  enter  into  a  negotiation  with  those  who  denominate  themselves 
rebels,  by  resistance,  and  confession  of  a  dependancy. 

"  Reasons,  drawn  from  justice,  policy,  and  necessity,  are  everywhere  at 
hand  for  a  radical  separation  from  Great  Britain.  From  justice  ;  for  the  Mood 
of  those  who  have  fallen  in  our  cause  cries  aloud,  'It  is  time  to  part.'  From 
necessity,  because  she  hath,  of  herself,  repudiated  us  by  a  rapid  succession  of 
insult,  in  jury,  robbery,  murder,  and  a,  formal  declaration  of  war.  These  are  but 
few.  and  some  of  the  weakest  arguments  which  the  great  volume  of  our  op 
pression  opens  to  every  spirited  American. 

"  It  cannot  be  a  violation  of  our  faith  now  to  reject  the  terms  of  1763. 
They  are  a  qualified  slavery  at  best,  and  were  acceptable  to  us,  not  as  the 
extent  of  our  right,  but  the  probable  cause  of  peace ;  but  since  the  day  in 
which  they  were  most  humbly  offered  as  the  end  of  animosities,  an  interval 
hath  passed,  marked  with  tyranny  intolerable. 

"  We,  therefore,  whose  names  are  hereunto  subscribed,  do  request  and 
instruct  yon,  our  delegates,  (provided  no  just  and  honourable  terms  are  offered 
by  the  king,)  to  exert  your  utmost  ability,  in  the  next  convention,  toward 
dissolving-  the  connexion  between  America  and  Great  Britain,  TOTALLY,  FINALLY 

AND    IREEYOCABLY." 


142  VERT'S  LIFE  OF 

On  the  fifteenth  of  May,  Mr.  Gary  reported  from  the  commit' 
tee  of  the  whole  house  on  the  state  of  me  colony,  the  following 
preamble  and  resolutions,  which  were  unanimously  adopted  : — 

"Forasmuch  as  all  the  endeavours  of  the  United  Colonies, 
by  the  most  decent  representations  and  petitions  to  the  king 
and  parliament  of  Great  Britain,  to  restore  peace  and  security  to 
America  under  the  British  government,  and  a  reunion  with  that 
people  upon  just  and  liberal  terms,  instead  of  a  redress  of  griev 
ances,  have  produced,  from  an  imperious  and  vindictive  admin 
istration,  increased  insult,  oppression,  and  a  vigorous  attempt 
to  effect  our  total  destruction.  By  a  late  act,  all  these  colo 
nies  are  declared  to  be  in  rebellion,  and  out  of  the  protection  of 
the  British  crown  ;  our  properties  subjected  to  confiscation  ; 
our  people,  when  captivated,  compelled  to  join  in  the  murder 
and  plunder  of4  their  relations  and  countrymen  ;  and  all  former 
rarjirie  and  oppression  of  Americans  declared  legal  and  just, 
fleets  and  armies  are  raised,  and  the  aid  of  foreign  troops  en 
gaged  to  assist  these  destructive  purposes. 

"  The  king's  representative  in  this  colony  hath  liot  only 
withheld  all  the  po\vers  of  government  from  operating  for  our 
safety,  but,  having  retired  on  board  an  armed  ship,  is  carrying 
on  a  piratical  and  savage  war  against  us  ;  tempting  our  slaves, 
by  every  artifice,  to  resort  to  him,  and  training  and  employing 
them  against  their  masters.  In  this  state  of  extreme  danger, 
we  have  no  alternative  left,  but  an  abject  submission  to  the  will 
of  those  overbearing  tyrants,  or  a  total  separation  from  the 
crown  and  government  of  Great  Britain  :  uniting  and  exerting 
the  strength  of  all  America  for  defence,  and  forming  alliances 
with  foreign  powers  for  commerce  and  aid  in  war. 

"Wherefore,  appealing  to  the  Searcher  of  hearts  for  the  sin- 
ferity  of  former  declarations,  expressing  our  desire  to  preserve 
the  connexion  with  that  nation,  and  that  we  are  driven  from 
that  inclination  by  their  wicked  councils,  and  the  eternal  laws 
of  self-preservation, 

"  Resolved,  unanimously,  That  the  delegates  appointed  to 
represent  this  colony  in  general  congress,  be  instructed  to  pro 
pose  to  that  respectable  body,  to  DECLARE  T HE  UNITED  COLO 
NIES  FREE  AND  INDEPENDENT  STATES,  absolved  from  all  alle 
giance  to,  or  dependance  upon,  the  crown  or  parliament  of 
Great  Britain  ;  and  that  they  give  the  assent  of  this  colony  to 
Such  declaration,  and  to  whatever  measures  may  be  thought 
proper  and  necessary  by  the  congress  for  forming  foreign 
alliances,  and  A  CONFEDERATION  OF  THE  COLONIES,  at  such 
time,  and  in  the  manner,  as  to  them  shall  seem  best.  Provided, 
that  the  potter  of  forming  government  for,  and  the  regulation 


PATRICK  HENRY.  143 

of,  the  internal  concerns  of  each  colony,  be  left  lo  the  respect 
ive  colonial  legislatures. 

'•Resolved,  unanimously,  That  a  committee  be  appointed  to 
prepare  A  DECLARATION  OF  RIGHTS,  and  such  a  plan  of  gov 
ernment  as  will  be  most  likely  to  maintain  peace  and  order  in 
this  colony,  and  secure  substantial  and  equal  liberty  to  the 
people." 

This  measure  was  followed  by  the  most  lively  demonstrations 
of  joy.  The  spirit  of  the  times,  is  interestingly  manifested  by 
the  following  paragraph  fromPurdie's  paper  of  the  seventeenth 
of  May,  which  immediately  succeeds  the  annunciation  of  the 
resolutions  :— • 

"  In  consequence  of  the  above  resolutions,  universally  re 
garded  as  the  only  door  which  will  lead  to  safety  and  pros 
perity,  some  gentlemen  made  a  handsome  collection  for  the 
purpose  of  treating  the  soldiery,  who  next  day  were  paraded  in 
Waller's  grove,  before  Brigadier-General  Lewis,  attended  by 
the  gentlemen  of  the  committee  of  safety,  the  members  of  the 
general  convention,  the  inhabitants  of  this  city,  &c.,  &c.  The 
resolutions  being  read  aloud  to  the  army,  the  following  toasts 
were  given,  each  of  them  accompanied  by  a  discharge  of  the 
artillery  and  small  arms,  and  the  acclamations  of  all  present;—- 

" 1.  The  American  Independent  States. 

"2.  The  grand  Congress  of  the  United  States,  and  their 
respective  legislatures. 

"3.  General  Washington,  and  victory  to  the  American  arms. 

"The  Union  Flag  of  the  American  States  waved  upon  the 
Capitol  during  the  whole  of  this  ceremony  ;  which  being  ended, 
the  soldiers  partook  of  the  refreshments  prepared  for  them  by 
the  affection  of  their  countrymen,  and  the  evening  concluded 
with  illuminations,  and  other  demonstrations  of  joy  ;  every  one 
seeming  pleased  that  the  domination  of  Great  Britain  was  now 
at  an  end,  so  wickedly  and  tyrannically  exercised  for  these 
twelve  or  thirteen  years  past,  notwithstanding  our  repeated 
prayers  and  remonstrances  for  redress." 

The  committee  appointed  to  prepare  the  declaration  and 
plan  of  government,  called  for  br  the  last  resolution,  were  the 
following : — Mr.  Archibald  Gary,  Mr.  Meriwether  Smith,  Mr. 
Mercer,  Mr.  Henry  Lee,  Mr.  Treasurer,  Mr.  Henry,  Mr. 
Dandridge,  Mr.  Gilmer,  Mr.  Bland,  Mr.  Digges,  Mr.  Carring- 
ton,  Mr.  Thomas  Ludwell  Lee,  Mr.  Cabell,  Mr.  Jones,  Mr. 
Blair,  Mr.  Fleming,  Mr.  Tazewell,  Mr.  Richard  Cary,  Mr.  Bul- 
litt,  Mr.  Watts,  Mr.  Bannister,  Mr.  Page,  Mr.  Starke,  Mr.  David 
Mason,  Mr.  Adams,  Mr.  Reed,  and  Mr.  Thomas  Lewis  ;  to 
whom  were  afterward  successively  added,  Mr.  Madison,  Mr, 


144  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

Ruthford,  Mr.  Watkins,  Mr.  George  Mason,  Mr.  Harvie,  Mr. 
Curie,  and  Mr.  Holt. 

On  Wednesday,  the  twelfth  of  June  following,  that  declara 
tion  of  rights  which  stands  prefixed  to  our  statutes,  was  reported 
and  adopted  without  a  dissenting  voice  ;  as  was  also,  on  Sat 
urday,  the  twenty-ninth  of  the  same  month,  the  present  plan 
of  our  government. 

The  striking  similitude  between  the  recital  of  wrongs  prefixed 
to  the  constitution  of  Virginia,  and  that  which  was  afterward 
prefixed  to  the  Declaration  of  Independence  of  the  United 
States,  is  of  itself  sufficient  to  establish  the  fact  that  they  are 
from  the  same  pen.  But  the  constitution  of  Virginia  preceded 
the  Declaration  of  Independence,  by  nearly  a  month;  and  was 
wholly  composed  and  adopted  while  Mr.  Jefferson  is  known  to 
have  been  out  of  the  state,  attending  the  session  of  congress 
at  Philadelphia.  From  these  facts  alone,  .a  doubt  might  nat 
urally  arise  whether  he  was,  as  he  has  always  been  reputed, 
the  author  of  that  celebrated  instrument,  the  Declaration  of 
American  Independence,  or  at  least  the  recital  of  grievances 
which  ushers  it  in ;  or  whether  this  part  of  it,  at  least,  had  not 
been  borrowed  from  the  preamble  to  the  constitution  of  Vir 
ginia. 

To  remove  this  doubt,  it  is  proper  to  state,  that  there  now 
exists  among  the  archives  of  this  state  an  original  rough  draught 
of  a  constitution  for  Virginia,  in  the  hand-writing  of  Mr.  Jef 
ferson,  containing  this  identical  preamble,  and  which  was  for 
warded  by  him  from  Philadelphia,  to  his  friend  Mr.  Wythe,  to 
be  submitted  to  the  committee  of  the  house  of  delegates.  The 
body  of  the  constitution  is  taken  principally  from  a  plan  pro 
posed  by  Mr.  George  Mason  ;  and  had  been  adopted  by  the 
committee  before  the  arrival  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  plan  ;  his  pre 
amble,  however,  was  prefixed  to  the  instrument ;  and  some  of 
the  modifications  proposed  by  him  introduced  into  the  body 
of  it. 

The  salary  of  the  governor  to  be   appointed   under  the  new 
constitution  was  immediately  fixed  by  a  resolution  of  the  house 
at  one  thousand  pounds  per  annum  ;  and  the  house  proceeded 
to  elect  forthwith  the  first  republican   governor  for   the   com 
monwealth  of  Virginia.     This  was, the   touchstone  of  public 
favour.     The  office  was  of  the  firsi  importance  ;  and  the  whole 
state  was  open  to  the  choice  of  the  house.     The  question  was 
decided  on  the  first  ballot.     The  vote  stood  thus  : — 
For  Patrick  Henry,  jun.  Esq.     ...    60 
Thomas  Nelson,  Esq.      ^     ...     45 

John  Page,  Esq.          1 

"Whereupon  it  was  "  Resolved,  That  the  said  Patrick  Henry, 


PATRICK    HENRY.  146 

jim,  Esq.,  be  governor  of  this  commonwealth,  to  continue  in 
that  office  until  the  end  of  the  succeeding  session  of  assembly 
after  the  last  of  March  next;  and  that  Mr.  Mason,  Mr.  Henry- 
Lee,  Mr.  Digges,  Mr.  Blair,  and  Mr.  Dandridge,  be  a  com 
mittee  to  wait  upon  him,  and  notify  such  appointment." 

On  Monday,  the  first  of  July,  Mr.  George  Mason,  of  this 
committee,  reported,  that  they  had  performed  the  duty  assigned 
them,  and  that  the  governor  had  been  pleased  to  return  the 
following  answer  to  the  convention  : — 

••  To  the  Honourable   the  President  and  House   of  Con* 
vcntion : — 

"Gentlemen — The  vote  of  this  day,  appointing  me  governor 
of  the  commonwealth,  has  been  notified  to  me  in  the  most  po 
lite  and  obliging  mariner,  by  George  Mason,  Henry  Lee,  Dudley 
Digges,  John  Blair,  and  Bartholomew  Dandridge,  esquires. 

44  A  sense  of  the  high  and  unmerited  honour  conferred  upon 
me  by  the  convention,  fills  my  heart  with  gratitude,  which  I 
trust  my  whole  life  will  manifest.  I  take  this  earliest  oppor 
tunity  to  express  my  thanks,  which  I  wish  to  convey  to  you, 
gentlemen,  in  the  strongest  terms  of  acknowledgment. 

"  When  I  reflect  that  the  tyranny  of  the  British  king  and 
parliament  hath  kindled  a  formidable  war,  now  raging  through 
out  this  wide-extended  continent,  and  in  the  operations  of 
which  this  commonwealth  must  bear  so  great  a  part;  and  that, 
from  the  events  of  this  war,  the  lasting  happiness  or  misery  of 
a  great  proportion  of  the  human  species  will  finally  result ;  that, 
in  order  to  preserve  this  commonwealth  from  anarchy,  and  its 
attendant  ruin,  and  to  give  vigour  to  our  councils,  and  effect  to 
Till  our  measures,  government  hath  been  necessarily  assumed, 
and  new-modelled  ;  that  it  is  exposed  to  numberless  hazards, 
and  perils,  in  its  infantine  state  ;  that  it  can  never  attain  to  ma 
turity,  or  ripen  into  firmness,  unless  it  is  guarded  \>j  an  affec 
tionate  assiduity,  and  managed  by  great  abilities  ;  I  lament  my 
want  of  talents  ;  I  feel  my  mind  filled  with  anxiety  and  uneasi 
ness,  to  find  myself  so  unequal  to  the  duties  of  that  important 
station,  to  which  I  am  called  by  the  favour  of  my  fellow-citizens 
at  this  truly  critical  conjuncture.  The  errors  of  my  conduct 
shall  be  atoned  for,  so  far  as  I  am  able,  by  unwearied  endeav 
ours  to  secure  the  freedom  and  happiness  of  our  common 
country. 

"  I  shall  enter  upon  the  duties  of  my  office,  whenever  you, 
gentlemen,  shall  be  pleased  to  direct ;  relying  upon  the  known 
wisdom  and  virtue  of  your  honourable  house  to  supply  my 
defects,  and  to  give  permanency  and  success  to  that  system  of 
government  which  you  have  formed,  and  which  is  so  wisely 

13 


146  WIRT'S  LIFE  or 

calculated  to   secure  equal  liberty,  and   advance  human  hap 
piness. 

"I  have  the  honour  to  be,  gentlemen, 

"  your  most  obedient  and  very  humble  servant, 

"  P.  HENRY,  jun." 

Mr.  Henry  was  also  immediately  greeted  with  the  following 
affectionate  address,  from  the  two  regiments  which  he  had  re 
cently  commanded  : — 

"  To  his  excellency  Patrick  Henry,  jun.  Esq.,  governor  of 
the  commonwealth  of  Virginia: — The  humble  address  of 
the  first  and  second  Virginia  regiments  : — 

"  May  it  please  your  excellency  : — 

"  Permit  us  with  the  sincerest  sentiments  of  respect  and  joy, 
to  congratulate  your  excellency  upon  your  unsolicited  pro 
motion  to  the  highest  honours  a  grateful  people  can  bestow. 

"  Uninfluenced  by  private  ambition,  regardless  of  sordid 
interest,  you  have  uniformly  pursued  the  general  good  of  your 
country ;  and  have  taught  the  world,  that  an  ingenuous  love  of 
the  rights  of  mankind,  an  inflexible  resolution,  and  a  steady 
perseverance  in  the  practice  of  every  private  and  public  virtue, 
lead  directly  to  preferment,  and  give  the  best  title  to  the  hon 
ours  of  our  uncorrupted  and  vigorous  state. 

"  Once  happy  under  your  military  command,  we  hope  for 
more  extensive  blessings  from  your  civil  administration. 

"  Intrusted  as  your  excellency  is,  in  some  measure,  with  the 
support  of  a  young  empire,  our   hearts  are  willing,  and  arms 
ready,  to  maintain  your  authority  as  chief  magistrate ;  happy 
that  we  have   lived  to  see  the   day,  when   freedom   and   equal 
rights,   established  by  the  voice  of  the   people,  shall  prevail 
through   tbe  land.     We  are,  may  it  please   your  excellency, 
your  excellency's  most  devoted  and  most  obedient  servants." 
To  which  he  returned  the  following  exquisite  answer: — 
"  Gentlemen  of  the  first  and  second  Virginia  regiments : — 

44  Your  address  does  me  the  highest  honour.  Be  pleased  to 
accept  my  most  cordial  thanks  for  your  favourable  and  kind 
sentiments  of  my  principles  and  conduct. 

"  The  high  appointment  to  which  my  fellow-citizens  have 
called  me,  was,  indeed,  unmerited,  unsolicited.  I  am,  there 
fore,  under  increased  obligations  to  promote  the  safety,  dignity, 
and  happiness  of  the  commonwealth. 

"While  the  civil  powers  are  employed  in  establishing  a 
system  of  government,  liberal,  equitable,  in  every  part  of  which 
the  genius  of  equal  liberty  breathes  her  blessed  influence,  to 
you  is  assigned  the  glorious  task  of  saving,  by  your  valour  all 


PATRICK    HENRY.  147 

that  is  dear  to  mankind.  Go  on,  gentlemen,  to  finish  the  great 
work  you  have  so  nobly  and  successfully  begun.  Convince  the 
tyrants  again,  that  they  shall  bleed,  that  America  will  bleed  to 
her  last  drop,  ere  their  wicked  schemes  find  success. 

"  The  remembrance  of  my  former  connexion  with  you  shall 
ever  be  dear  to  me.  I  honour  your  profession,  I  revere  that 
patriot  virtue,  which,  in  your  conduct,  hath  produced  cheerful 
obedience,  exemplary  courage,  and  contempt  of  hardship  and 
danger.  Be  assured,  gentlemen,  I  shall  feel  the  highest  plea 
sure  in  embracing  every  opportunity  to  contribute  to  your  hap 
piness  and  welfare  ;  and  I  trust  the  day  will  come,  when  I  shali 
make  one  of  those  that  will  hail  you  among  the  triumphant  de 
liverers  of  America. 

"I  have  the  honour  to  be,  gentlemen, 

'*  Your  most  obedient  and  very  humble  servant, 

"  P.  HENRY,  jim." 

When  it  is  said  that  Mr.  Henry  was  not  successful  as  a 
writer,  the  remark  must  be  understood  as  applicable  only  to 
those  extended  compositions  in  which  it  was  necessary  to  digest 
and  arrange  a  mass  of  arguments  with  skill  and  effect,  and  to 
give  them  beauty  as  well  as  order.  In  his  short  effusions,  when 
excited  by  strong  feelings,  he  was  sometimes  very  happy;  of 
which  the  above  answer  is  a  very  pleasing  specimen. 

The  first  council  appointed  under  the  constitution  were, 
John  Page,  Dudley  Digges,  John  Taylor,  John  Blair,  Benja 
min  Harrison,  of  Berkeley,  Bartholomew  Dandridge,  Thomas 
Nelson,  and  Charles  Carter,  of  Sherley,  esquires.  Mr.  Nelson 
(the  same  gentleman  who  had  received  so  honourable  a  vote  as 
governor)  declined  the  acceptance  of  the  office,  on  account  of 
his  age  and  infirmities  ;  and  his  place  was  supplied  by  Mr. 
Benjamin  Harrison,  of  Brandon. 

The  governor's  palace,  together  with  the  out-buildings  be 
longing  to  it  in  Williamsburgh,  having,  by  a  previous  resolution, 
been  appropriated  as  a  public  hospital,  was,  by  a  resolution  of 
the  first  of  July,  restored  to  its  original  destination  ;  and  the 
committee  who  had  been  appointed  to  notify  the  governor  of 
his  election,  were  now  directed  to  inform  him  of  the  desire  of 
the  convention,  that  he  would  make  the  palace  his  place  of 
residence.  On  the  fifth  of  July  the  sum  of  one  thousand 
pounds  was  directed  by  the  house,  to  be  laid  out  in  furniture  for 
the  palace,  including  the  furniture  already  there,  belonging  to 
the  country  ;  and  on  the  same  day,  the  governor  and  members  of 
the  privy  council  took  their  respective  oaths  of  office,  and  en 
tered  at  once  upon  the  discharge  of  their  constitutional  duties. 


148  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Mr.  Henry's  Administration  as  Governor  of  Virginia — Disasters  of  the  Res 
olution — Their  Effects — A  prospect  of  making  a  Dictator  is  originated  in 
Virginia — Mr.  Henry  vindicated — His  Re-election  in  1777 — The  plot  to  sup 
plant  General  Washington — Anonymous  Disclosures  to  Mr.  Henry — Let 
ters  to  Washington  on  that  subject — Washington's  Reply — Mr.  Henry  again, 
re-elected  in  1778 — Narration  of  the  Case  of  Josiah  Philips — Mr.  Henry 
declines  a  fourth  Election — Death  of  his  Wife — He  remarries — General 
Gates  enters  Richmond  in  disgrace — Mr.  Henry's  Resolution  in  favour  of 
that  Officer — General  Gates's  Reply — Dispiriting  State  of  Affairs — Meeting 
of  the  Assembly  at  Richmond — Mr.  Harrison  elected  Speaker — Tarlton 
makes  a  Descent  upon  the  Town — Arrival  of  the  French — Termination  of 
the  Revolution — Mr.  Henry's  Course  as  Member  of  the  Assembly — H» 
advocates  the  Return  of  the  Refugees — Sentiments  on  Freedom  of  Corn^ 
merce — Bill  for  Intermarriages  with  the  Indians — Incorporation  of  religious 
Societies — Bill  for  establishing  a  Provision  for  Teachers  of  Religion — Visit 
of  Lafayette  and  Washington  to  Richmond — Reminiscences  of  Mr.  Henry 
by  a  Cotemporary — Comparison  between  Him  and  Mr.  Lee — Judge  Stuart's 
delineation  of  Mr.  Henry's  Eloquence — He  is  again  elected  Governor  of 
Virginia  in  1784 — Resigns  in  1786 — Resumes  the  Practice  of  the  Law — 
The  Federal  Constitution  adopted  at  Philadelphia. 

SHORTLY  after  Mr.  Henry's  election  as  governor,  Lord 
Dunmore  was  driven  from  Gvvinn's  Island,  and  from  the  state, 
to  return  to  it  no  more  ;  and  Virginia  was  left  in  repose  from 
every  external  enemy.  No  opportunity,  therefore,  was  afforded 
to  the  governor  to  distinguish  himself  in  the  exercise  of  that 
important  constitutional  power  which  created  him  the  com- 
mander-in-chief  of  the  forces  of  the  state.  Duties,  however, 
of  more  importance  than  lustre,  remained  for  the  executive  of 
the  state — in  keeping  up  the  ardour  of  the  commonwealth  in 
the  public  cause — in  furnishing  and  forwarding  their  quota  of 
military  supplies  to  the  grand  continental  army — in  awakening 
the  spirit  of  the  state  to  the  importance  of  discipline,  and  pre 
paring  the  militia  for  the  effectual  discharge  of  their  routine  of 
duty — in  watching  and  crushing  the  intrigues  of  the  tories  who 
still  infested  the  state,  and  went  about  clandestinely,  preaching 
disaffection  to  the  patriot  cause,  and  submission  to  Great  Britain 
— in  counteracting  the  schemes  of  speculating  monopolists  arid 
extortioners,  who  sought  to  avail  themselves  of  the  necessities 
of  the  times,  and  to  grow  rich  by  preying  on  the  misfortunes  of 
the  people — in  short,  in  eradicating  and  removing  those  nu 
merous  moral  diseases,  which  spring  up  with  so  much  fecundity, 
and  flourish  so  luxuriantly,  amid  the  calamities  of  a  revolution — 
and  in  keeping  the  body  politic  pure  and  healthy  in  all  its  parts. 

The  numerous  and  well  directed  proclamations  with  which 
the  papers  of  the  day  abounded,  attest  the  vigilance  and 
energy  with  which  these  duties  were  performed.  To  enter 


PATRICK    HENRY.  140 

upon  a  detail  of  them,  would  be  to  write  the  history  of  Virginia 
during  this  period,  instead  of  the  life  of  Mr.  Henry ;  a  work 
wholly  unnecessary,  since  it  has  been  already  executed  with 
minuteness  and  fidelity  by  an  elegant  writer,  *  whose  work  will 
probably  see  the  light  before  these  sketches.  I  shall  confine 
myself  to  a  few  prominent  incidents  of  Mr.  Henry's  adminis 
tration,  on  account  of  some  of  which  a  degree  of  censure  has 
been  unjustly,  I  think,  attached  to  his  character. 

The  fall  of  the  year  1776  was  one  of  the  darkest  and  most 
dispiriting  periods  of  the  revolution.  The  disaster  at  Long 
Island  had  occurred,  by  which  a  considerable  portion  of  the 
American  army  had  been  cut  off — a  garrison  of  between  three 
and  four  thousand  men  had  been  taken  at  Fort  Washington— 
and  the  American  general,  with  the  small  remainder,  disheart 
ened,  and  in  want  of  every  kind  of  comfort,  was  retreating 
through  the  Jerseys  before  an  overwhelming  power,  which 
spread  terror,  desolation,  and  death,  on  every  hand.  This  was 
the  period  of  which  Paine,  in  his  Crisis,  used  that  memorable 
expression  : — "  These  are  the  times  which  try  the  souls  of 
men  !"  For  a  short  time  the  courage  of  the  country  fell. 
Washington  alone  remained  erect,  and  surveyed  with  godlike 
composure  the  storm  that  raged  around  him.  Even  the  heroism 
of  the  Virginia  legislature  gave  way  ;  and,  in  a  season  of  de 
spair,  the  mad  project  of  a  dictator  was  seriously  meditated. 

That  Mr.  Henry  was  thought  of  for  this  office,  has  been  alleged, 
and  is  highly  probable  ;  but  that  the  project  was  suggested  by 
him,  or  even  received  his  countenance,  I  have  met  with  no  one 
who  will  venture  to  affirm.  There  is  a  tradition  that  Colonel 
Archibald  Gary,  the  speaker  of  the  senate,  was  principally  in 
strumental  in  crushing  this  project ;  that  meeting  Colonel 
Syme,  the  step-brother  of  Colonel  Henry,  in  the  lobby  of  the 
house,  he  accosted  him  very  fiercely  in  terms  like  these  : — "  I 
am  told  that  your  brother  wishes  to  be  dictator  :  tell  him  from 
me,  that  the  day  of  his  appointment  shall  be  the  day  of  his 
death — for  he  shall  feel  my  dagger  in  his  heart  before  the  sunset 
of  that  day  ;"  and  the  tradition  adds,  that  Colonel  Syme,  in 

freat   agitation,  declared,  "  that  if  such  a  project  existed,  his 
rother  had  no  hand  in  it,  for  that  nothing  could  be  more  foreign 
to  him,  than  to  countenance  any  office  which  could  endanger,  in 
the  most  distant  manner,  the  liberties  of  his  country." 

The  intrepidity  and  violence  of  Colonel  Gary's  character 
renders  the  tradition  probable ;  but  it  furnishes  no  proof  of 
Mr.  Henry's  implication  in  the  scheme.  It  is  most  certain, 
that  both  himself  and  his  friends  have  firmly  and  uniformly 

•Mr.  L.  H.  Girardin,  the  contiouator  of  Burk's  History  of  Virginia. 

13* 


persisted  in  asserting  his  innocence ;  and  there  seems  to  b« 
neither  candour  or  justice  in  imputing  to  him,  without  evidence, 
a  scheme  which  might  just  as  well  have  originated  in  the  as 
sembly  itself.  It  was  not  more  than  a  month  afterward,  that 
congress  actually  did,  with  relation  to  General  Washington, 
very  nearly  what  the  Virginia  legislature  are  said  to  have  con 
templated  in  regard  to  Mr.  Henry ;  they  invested  him  with 
powers  very  little  short  of  dictatorial :  yet  no  one  ever  sus 
pected  General  Washington  of  having  prompted  the  measure. 
Why  then  shall  Mr.  Henry  be  suspected? 

Neither  General  Washington  himself,  nor  any  other  patriot, 
had  maintained  the  principles  of  the  revolution  with  more  consis 
tency  and  uniformity  than  Patrick  Henry  ;  and  it  will  certain!) 
never  satisfy  a  fair  inquirer,  to  attempt  to  balance  a  suspicion, 
without  the  shadow  of  proof,  against  the  whole  course  of  a  long 
and  patriotic  life.  The  charge,  moreover,  seems  preposterous. 
What  advantage  could  a  rational  man  promise  himself  from  the 
dictatorship  of  a  single  state,  embarked  with  twelve  other  sover 
eign  and  independent  states,  in  one  common  cause ;  a  cause, 
too,  now  so  well  understood  by  the  whole  body  of  the  Americai. 
people,  and  in  which  all  their  souls  were  so  intensely  engaged? 
The  man  who  was  at  the  head  of  the  armies  of  the  union,  migh! 
have  played  the  part  of  Cesar  or  Cromwell,  had  he  possessed 
their  wicked  spirit ;  but  what  could  the  dictator  of  a  single  state 
do,  and  that,  too,  a  state  of  firm  and  enlightened  patriots  ? 

It  is  impossible  to  believe  that  the  legislature  themselves  coulu 
have  entertained  a  doubt  of  Mr.  Henry's  innocence  ;  since  at 
the  next  annual  election  for  governor,  which  took  place  on  the 
thirtieth  of  May,  seventeen  hundred  and  seventy-seven,  he  wae 
re-elected  unanimously  ;  the  house  being  composed  of  nearly 
the  same  members,  and  the  same  Colonel  Cary  being  speaker 
of  the  senate.  This  honourable  proof  of  confidence,  by  those 
who  best  knew  the  whole  case — who  watched,  with  a  scrutiny 
so  severely  jealous,  the  conduct  of  our  prominent  men — an^ 
among  whom  were  some  who  derived  no  pleasure  from  ths 
public  honours  of  Mr.  Henry — will  be  decisive  of  this  question, 
with  every  man  who  is  dispassionately  searching  for  the  truth, 
and  is  willing  to  find  it. 

This  very  honourable  mark  of  the  confidence  of  the  legisla 
ture,  in  re-electing  him  unanimously  to  the  office  of  governor, 
affected  Mr.  Henry  most  sensibly  ;  and  to  the  committee  who 
announced  it  to  him,  he  gave  the  following  answer : — 

'•  GENTLEMEN  :  The  signal  honour  conferred  on  me  by  the 
general  assembly  in  their  choice  of  me  to  be  the  governor  of 
this  commonwealth,  demands  my  best  acknowledgments,  which 


PATRICK    HENRY.  151 

I  beg  the  favour  of  you  to  convey  to  them  in  the  most  accepta 
ble  manner. 

"I  shall  execute  the  duties  of  that  high  station,  to  which  I 
am  again  called  by  the  favour  of  my  fellow-citizens,  according 
to  the  best  of  my  abilities,  and  I  shall  rely  upon  the  candour 
and  wisdom  of  the  assembly,  to  excuse  and  supply  my  defects. 
The  good  of  the  commonwealth  shall  be  the  only  object  of  my 
pursuit,  and  I  shall  measure  my  happiness  according  to  the  suc 
cess  which  shall  attend  my  endeavours  to  establish  the  public 
liberty.  I  beg  to  be  presented  to  the  assembly  ;  and  that  they 
and  you  will  be  assured,  that  I  am,  with  every  sentiment  of  the 
highest  regard,  their  and  your  most  obedient  and  very  humble 
servant, 

"P.HENRY." 

It  was  in  the  course  of  this  year's  administration  of  the  gov 
ernment  by  Mr.  Henry,  that  that  memorable  plot  which  dis 
graces  our  history,  was  formed  to  supplant  General  Washing 
ton.  This  is  said  to  have  proceeded  from  the  glory  which 
General  Gates  had  gained  by  the  capture  of  Burgoyne  and  his 
army  at  Saratoga,  and  was  believed  to  have  been  suggested  by 
General  Gates  himself.  The  plot  is  said  to  have  been  an  ex 
tensive  one,  and  to  have  embraced  some  of  the  members  of 
congress,  and  many  officers  of  the  army.  The  high  estimate 
which  Mr.  Henry  had  formed  of  the  abilities  of  General  Wash 
ington,  while  that  illustrious  man  was  comparatively  unknown 
to  his  countrymen,  has  been  already  stated.  This  estimate,  in 
stead  of  having  been  lowered,  had  been  confirmed  and  raised 
by  subsequent  events. 

Mr.  Henry  was  too  cool  and  judicious  an  observer  of  events, 
to  have  imputed  to  the  commander-in-chief  the  disasters  of  the 
autumn  of  seventeen  hundred  and  seventy-six.  His  masterly 
retreat  through  the  Jerseys,  the  brilliant  strokes  of  generalship 
exhibited  at  Trenton  and  Princeton,  and  above  all,  that  singular 
constancy  of  soul  with  which  he  braved  adversity,  had  excited  his 
grateful  admiration,  and  established  Washington  in  his  heart  as 
one  of  the  first  of  human  beings.  He  not  only  admired  him  as 
a  general,  but  revered  him  as  a  patriot,  and  loved  him  as  a 
friend.  Feeling  for  General  Washington  sentiments  like  these, 
the  reader  may  judge  of  the  indignation  and  horror  with  which 
he  read  the  following  anonymous  letter,  addressed  to  him  by 
one  of  the  conspirators  against  that  father  of  his  country  : — 
"  YORKTOWN,  January  12th,  1778. 

"  DEAR  SIR  :  The  common  danger  of  our  country  first  brought 
you  and  me  together.  I  recollect  with  pleasure  the  influence 
of  your  conversation  and  eloquence  upon  the  opinions  of  this 
country,  in  the  beginning  of  the  present  controversy.  Yoa 


152  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

first  taught  us  to  shake  off  our  idolatrous  attachment  to  royalty 
and  to  oppose  its  encroachments  upon  our  liberties,  with  our 
very  lives.  By  these  means  you  saved  us  from  ruin.  The  in 
dependence  of  America  is  the  offspring  of  that  liberal  spirit  of 
thinking  and  acting  which  followed  the  destruction  of  the  scep 
tres  of  kings,  and  the  mighty  power  of  Great  Britain. 

*•  But,  sir,  we  have  only  passed  the  Red  sea.  A  dreary 
wilderness  is  still  before  us,  and  unless  a  Moses  or  a  Joshua 
are  raised  up  in  our  behalf,  we  must  perish  before  we  reach  the 
promised  land.  We  have  nothing  to  fear  from  our  enemies  on 
the  way.  General  Howe,  it  is  true,  has  taken  Philadelphia  ; 
but  he  has  only  changed  his  prison.  His  dominions  are  bound 
ed  on  all  sides,  by  his  out-sentries.  America  can  only  be  un 
done  by  herself.  She  looks  up  to  her  councils  and  arms  for 
protection;  but  alas  ?  what  are  they?  Her  representation  in 
congress  dwindled  to  only  twenty-one  members — her  Adarns — 
her  Wilson — her  Henry,  are  no  more  among  them.  Her  coun 
cils  weak — and  partial  remedies  applied  constantly  for  univer 
sal  diseases. 

"  Her  army — what  is  it  ?  a  major-general  belonging  to  it, 
called  it  a  few  days  ago,  in  my  hearing,  a  mob.  Discipline 
unknown  or  wholly  neglected.  The  quartermaster  and  com 
missary's  departments  filled  with  idleness,  ignorance,  and  pec 
ulation — our  hospitals  crowded  with  six  thousand  sick,  but 
half  provided  with  necessaries  or  accommodations,  and  more 
dying  in  them  in  one  month,  than  perished  in  the  field  during 
the  whole  of  the  last  campaign.  The  money  depreciating, 
without  any  effectual  measures  being  taken  to  raise  it — the 
country  distracted  with  the  Don  Quixote  attempts  to  regulate 
the  prices  of  provisions — an  artificial  famine  created  by  it,  and 
a  real  one  dreaded  from  it — the  spirit  of  the  people  failing 
through  a  more  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  causes  of  our 
misfortunes — many  submitting  daily  to  General  Howe — and 
more  wishing  to  do  it,  only  to  avoid  the  calamities  which  threat 
en  our  country. 

"  But  is  our  case  desperate  ?  by  no  means.  We  have  wisdom, 
virtue,  and  strength  enough  to  save  us,  if  they  could  be  called 
into  action.  The  northern  army  has  shown  us  what  Americans 
are  capable  of  doing,  with  a  general  at  their  head.  The  spirit 
of  the  southern  army  is  no  way  inferior  to  the  spirit  of  the 
northern.  A  Gates,  a  Lee,  or  a  Conway,  would  in  a  few  weeks 
render  them  an  irresistible  body  of  men.  The  last  of  the  above 
officers  has  accepted  of  the  new  office  of  inspector-general  of 
our  army,  in  order  to  reform  abuses ;  but  the  remedy  is  only  a 
palliative  one. 

"  In  one  of  his  letters  to  a  friend,  he  says,  «  a  great  and  good 


PATRICK    HENRY.  153 

God  hath  decreed  America  to  be  free — or  the  *  *  *  *  *  * 
and  weak  counsellors,  would  have  ruined  her  long  ago.'  You 
may  rest  assured  of  each  of  the  facts  related  in  this  letter.  The 
author  of  it  is  one  of  your  Philadelphia  friends.  A  hint  of  his 
name,  if  found  out  by  the  handwriting,  must  not  be  mentioned 
to  your  most  intimate  friend.  Even  the  letter  must  be  thrown 
in  the  fire.  But  some  of  its  contents  ought  to  be  made  public, 
in  order  to  awaken,  enlighten,  and  alarm  our  country.  I  rely 
upon  your  prudence,  and  am,  dear  sir,  with  my  usual  attachment 
to  you,  and  to  our  beloved  independence,  yours  sincerely. 

44 His  Excellency  P.  Henry" 

Mr.  Henry  did  not  hesitate  a  moment  as  to  the  course  which 
it  was  proper  for  him  to  take  with  this  perfidious  letter :  he 
enclosed  it  forthwith  to  General  Washington,  in  the  following 
frank  and  high-minded  communication  : — 

44  WILLIAMSBURGH,  February  20,  1770. 

44  DEAR  SIR  :  You  will  no  doubt,  be  surprised  at  seeing  the 
enclosed  letter,  in  which  the  encomiums  bestowed  on  me  are 
as  undeserved,  as  the  censures  aimed  at  you  are  unjust.  I  am 
sorry  there  should  be  one  man  who  counts  himself  my  friend, 
who  is  not  yours. 

44  Perhaps  I  give  you  needless  trouble  in  handing  you  this 
paper.  The  writer  of  it  may  be  too  insignificant  to  deserve 
any  notice.  If  I  knew  this  to  be  the  case,  I  should  not  have 
intruded  on  your  time,  which  is  so  precious.  But  there  may 
possibly  be  some  scheme  or  party  forming  to  your  prejudice. 
The  enclosed  leads  to  such  a  suspicion.  Believe  me,  sir,  I 
have  too  high  a  sense  of  the  obligations  America  has  to  you,  to 
abet  or  countenance  so  unworthy  a  proceeding.  The  most  ex 
alted  merit  hath  ever  been  found  to  attract  envy.  But  I  please 
myself  with  the  hope,  that  the  same  fortitude  and  greatness  of 
mind  which  have  hitherto  braved  all  the  difficulties  and  dangers 
inseparable  from  your  station,  will  rise  superior  to  every  at 
tempt  of  the  envious  partisan. 

41 1  really  cannot  tell  who  is  the  writer  of  this  letter,  which 
not  a  little  perplexes  me.  The  handwriting  is  altogether 
strange  to  me. 

44  To  give  you  trouble  of  this  gives  me  pain.  It  would  suit 
my  inclination  better  to  give  you  some  assistance  in  the  great 
business  of  the  war.  But  I  will  not  conceal  any  thing  from 
you  by  which  you  may  be  affected  ;  for  I  really  think,  your 
personal  welfare  and  the  happiness  of  America  are  inti 
mately  connected.  I  beg  you  will  be  assured  of  that  high  re 
gard  and  esteem,  with  which  I  ever  am,  dear  sir,  your  affec 
tionate  friend  and  very  humble  servant,  "  P.  HENRY. 

"His  Excellency  General  Washington" 


154  WIRT'S  LIFE  ot 

Not  having  received  any  answer  to  this  letter,  and  being 
filled  with  solicitude  by  the  wicked  conspiracy,  he  again  wrote 
to  General  Washington,  as  follows  : — 

"  WILLIAMSBURGH,  March  5,  1778. 

"DEAR  SIR  :  By  an  express  which  Colonel  Finnic  sent  to 
camp,  I  enclosed  you  an  anonymous  letter,  which  I  hope  got 
safe  to  hand.  1  am  anxious  to  hear  something  that  will  serve 
to  explain  the  strange  affair,  which  I  am  now  informed  is  taken 
up  respecting  you.  Mr.  Curtis  has  just  paid  us  a  visit,  and  by 
him  I  learn  sundry  particulars  concerning  General  Mifflin,  that 
much  surprised  me.  It  is  very  hard  to  trace  the  schemes  and 
windings  of  the  enemies  to  America.  I  really  thought  that 
man  its  friend  :  however,  I  am  too  far  from  him  to  judge  of  his 
present  temper. 

"  While  you  face  the  armed  enemies  of  our  liberty  in  the 
field,  and  by  the  favour  of  God  have  been  kept  unhurt,  I  trust 
your  country  will  never  harbour  in  her  bosom  the  miscreant 
who  would  ruin  her  best  supporter.  I  wish  not  to  flatter;  but 
when  arts,  unworthy  honest  men,  are  used  to  defame  and  tra 
duce  you,  I  think  it  not  amiss,  but  a  duty,  to  assure  you  of  that 
estimation  in  which  the  public  hold  you. 

"  Not  that  I  think  any  testimony  I  can  bear  is  necessary  for 
your  support,  or  private  satisfaction  ;  for  a  bare  recollection  of 
what  is  past  must  give  you  sufficient  pleasure  in  every  circum 
stance  of  life.  But  I  cannot  help  assuring  you,  on  this  occasion, 
of  the  high  sense  of  gratitude  which  all  ranks  of  men,  in  this 
your  native  country,  bear  to  you.  It  will  give  me  sincere 
pleasure  to  manifest  my  regards,  and  render  my  best  services 
to  you  or  yours.  I  do  not  like  to  make  a  parade  of  these 
things,  and  I  know  you  are  not  fond  of  it :  however,  I  hope  the 
occasion  will  plead  my  excuse. 

•'  The  assembly  have,  at  length,  empowered  the  executive 
here,  to  provide  the  Virginia  troops  serving  with  you 
with  clothes,  &c.  I  am  making  provision  accordingly,  and 
hope  to  do  something  toward  it.  Every  possible  assistance 
from  government  is  afforded  the  commissary  of  provisions, 
whose  department  has  not  been  attended  to.  It  was  taken  up 
by  me  too  late  to  do  much.  Indeed,  the  load  of  business  de 
volved  on  me  is  too  great  to  be  managed  well.  A  French  ship, 
mounting  thirty  guns,  that  has  been  long  chased  by  the  English 
cruisers,  has  got  into  Carolina,  as  I  hear  last  night. 

"Wishing  you  all  possible  felicity,  I  am,  my  dear  sir, 
"  Your  ever  affectionate  friend, 

"  And  very  humble  servant, 

"P.  HENRY. 

"  His  Excellency  General  Washington"  . 


PATRICK    HENRY.  165 

In  reply,  Mr.  Henry  received,  shortly  afterward  the  two  fol 
lowing  very  cordial  letters  from  the  general : — 

"  VALLEY  FORGE,  March  27,  1778. 

"DEAR  SIR:  About  eight  days  past,  I  was  honoured  with 
your  favour  of  the  20th  ultimo.  Your  friendship,  sir,  in  trans 
mitting  me  the  anonymous  letter  you  had  received,  lays  me 
under  the  most  grateful  obligations ;  and,  if  anything  could 
give  a  still  a  further  claim  to  my  acknowledgments,  it  is  the 
very  polite  and  delicate  terms  in  which  you  have  been  pleased 
to  make  the  communication. 

"  I  have  ever  been  happy  in  supposing  that  I  held  a  place 
in  your  esteem,  and  the  proof  of  it  you  have  afforded  on  this 
occasion  makes  me  peculiarly  so.  The  favourable  light  in  which 
you  hold  me  is  truly  flattering;  but  I  should  feel  much  regret  if 
I  thoughtthe  happiness  of  America  so  intimately  connected  with 
my  personal  welfare,  as  you  so  obligingly  seem  to  consider  it. 
All  I  can  say  is,  that  she  has  ever  had,  and  I  trust  she  ever  will 
have,  my  honest  exertions  to  promote  her  interests.  I  cannot 
hope  that  my  services  have  been  the  best,  but  my  heart  tells 
me  they  have  been  the  best  that  I  could  render. 

"  That  I  may  have  erred  in  using  the  means  in  my  power 
for  accomplishing  the  objects  of  the  arduous,  exalted  station 
with  which  I  am  honoured,  I  cannot  doubt:  nor  do  I  wish  my 
conduct  to  be  exempted  from  the  reprehension  it  may  deserve. 
Error  is  the  portion  of  humanity,  and  to  censure  it,  whether 
committed  by  this  or  that  public  character,  is  the  prerogative 

of  freemen. 

******* 

"This  is  not  the  only  secret  and  insidious  attempt  that  has 
been  made  to  wound  my  reputation.  There  have  been  others 
equally  base,  cruel,  and  ungenerous ;  because  conducted  with 
as  little  frankness,  and  proceeding  from  views,  perhaps,  as  per 
sonally  interested. 

11 1  am,  dear  sir,  &c. 

"  GEORGE  WASHINGTON. 
"  Tb  his  excellency  Patrick  Henry,  Esq., 
Governor  of  Virginia." 

"  CAMP,  March  28,  1778. 

44  DEAR  SIR  :  Just  as  I  was  about  to  close  my  letter  of  yester 
day,  your  favour  of  the  fifth  instant  came  to  hand.  I  can  only 
thank  you  again  in  the  languague  of  the  most  undissembled 
gratitude  for  your  friendship,  and  assure  you,  the  indulgent  dis 
position  which  Virginia  in  particular,  and  the  states  in  general, 
entertain  toward  me,  gives  me  the  most  sensible  pleasure. 
The  approbation  of  my  country  is  what  I  wish ;  and  as  far  as 
my  abilities  and  opportunity  will  permit,  I  hope  I  shall  endeav- 


156  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

our  to  deserve  it.  It  is  the  highest  reward  to  a  feeling 
mind ;  and  happy  are  they  who  so  conduct  themselves  as  to 
merit  it.  The  anonymous  letter  with  which  you  were  pleased 
to  favour  me,  was  written  by  *  *  *  *,  so  far  as  I  can  judge 
from  the  similitude  of  hands.  *****# 

"My  caution  to  avoid  everything  that  could  injure  the  ser 
vice,  prevented  me  from  communicating,  except  to  a  very  few 
of  my  friends,  the  intrigues  of  a  faction  which  I  knew  was 
formed  against  me,  since  it  might  serve  to  publish  our  internal 
dissensions  ;  but  their  own  restless  zeal  to  advance  their  views 
has  too  clearly  betrayed  them  and  made  concealment  on  my 
part  fruitless.  I  cannot  precisely  mark  the  extent  of  their 
views  ;  but  it  appeared,  in  general,  that  General  Gates  was  to 
be  exalted  on  the  ruin  of  my  reputation  and  influence. 

"This  I  am  authorized  to  say  from  undeniable  facts  in  my 
own  possession — from  publications,  the  evident  scope  of  which 
could  not  be  mistaken — and  from  private  detractions  industri 
ously  circulated.  *  *,  it  is  commonly 
supposed,  bore  the  second  part  in  the  cabal ;  and  General  Con- 
way,  I  know,  was  a  very  active  and  malignant  partisan ;  but 
I  have  good  reason  to  believe,  that  their  machinations  have  re 
coiled  most  sensibly  upon  themselves. 

"I  am,  dear  sir,  &c.,  "GEo.  WASHINGTON. 

"  His  excellency  Patrick  Henry,  Esq. 

Governour  of  Virginia." 

The  plot  did  recoil  on  its  contriver,  and  left  General  Wash 
ington  more  firmly  established  than  ever  in  the  confidence  of 
his  countrymen. 

•At  the  spring  session  of  seventeen  hundred  and  seventy- 
eight,  Mr.  Henry  was  again  unanimously  re-elected  to  the  office 
of  governor.  Mr.  Jefferson,  Mr.  Dandridge,  and  Mr.  Page, 
the  committee  appointed  to  announce  to  him  that  event,  re 
ceived  and  reported  the  following  answer  : — 

"  GENTLEMEN  :  The  general  assembly  in  again  electing  me 
governor  of  this  commonwealth,  have  done  me  very  signal 
honour.  I  trust  that  their  confidence  thus  continued  in  me,  will 
not  be  misplaced. 

"I  beg  you  will  be  pleased,  gentlemen,  to  present  me  to  the 
general  assembly,  in  terms  of  grateful  acknowledgment  for  this 
fresh  instance  of  their  favour  toward  me ;  and  to  assure  them, 
that  my  best  endeavours  shall  be  used  to  promote  the  public 
good,  in  that  station  to  which  they  have  once  more  been  pleas 
ed  to  call  me." 

At  this  same  session  an  act  was  passed,  on  account  of  which 
both  Mr.  Henry  and  the  legislature  have  been,  it  is  thought, 
improperly  censured,  I  mean  the  act  to  attaint  Josiah  Phil* 


PATRICK    HENRY.  157 

Ips.  This  man,  in  the  summer  of  seventeen  hundred  and  sev 
enty-seven,  at  the  head  of  a  banditti,  commenced  a  course  of 
crimes  in  the  counties  of  Norfolk  and  Princess  Anne,  which 
spread  terror  and  consternation  on  every  hand.  Availing  him 
self  of  the  disaffection  which  prevailed  in  that  quarter,  and 
taking  refuge  from  occasional  pursuit  in  the  fastnesses  of  the 
Dismal  Swamp,  he  had  carried  on  a  species  of  war  against  the 
innocent  and  defenceless,  at  the  bare  mention  of  which  hu 
manity  shudders. 

Scarcely  a  night  passed  without  witnessing  the  shrieks  of 
women  and  children,  flying  by  the  light  of  their  own  burning 
houses,  from  the  assaults  of  these  merciless  wretches;  and 
every  day  was  marked  by  the  desolation  of  some  farm,  by  rob 
beries  on  the  highway,  or  the  assassination  of  some  individual 
whose  patriotism  had  incurred  the  displeasure  of  this  fierce 
and  bloody  leader  of  banditti.  Every  attempt  to  take  them 
had  hitherto  proved  abortive  ;  when  in  May,  seventeen  hun 
dred  and  seventy-eight,  the  governor  received  the  following 
letter  from  Colonel  John  Wilson  :  — 

"NORFOLK  COUNTY,  May 20,  1778. 

"  HONOURABLE  SIR  :  I  received  your  letter  the  fourteenth 
instant  of  the  twelfth  April,  respecting  the  holding  the  militia 
in  readiness,  and  my  attention  to  the  arms  and  accoutrements, 
which  I  shall  endeavour  to  comply  with  as  far  as  in  my  power: 
that  much,  however,  may  not  be  expected  from  this  county,  I 
beg  to  observe,  that  the  militia,  of  late,  fail  much  in  appearing 
at  musters,  submitting  to  the  trifling  fine  of  five  shillings,  which, 
they  argue,  they  can  afford  to  pay,  by  earning  more  at  home  ; 
but  I  have  reason  to  fear,  through  disaffection.  With  such  a 
set  of  men,  it  is  impossible  to  render  any  service  to  country 
or  county. 

**  A  few  days  since,  hearing  of  the  ravages  committed  by  Phil 
ips  and  his  notorious  gang,  I  ordered  fifty  men  to  be  raised  out 
of  four  companies,  consisting  of  upward  of  two  hundred  :  of 
those  only  ten  appeared,  and  it  being  at  a  private  muster,  I 
compelled  twenty  others  into  duty,  putting  them  under  the 
command  of  Captain  Josiah  Wilson,  who  immediately  marched 
after  the  insurgents ;  and  that  very  night,  one  fourth  of  his 
men  deserted.  Captain  Wilson  still  pursued,  but  to  no  pur 
pose  :  they  were  either  taken  to  their  secret  places  in  the 
swamp,  or  concealed  by  their  friends,  that  no  intelligence  could 
be  obtained.  He  then  returned,  his  men  declaring  they  could 
stay  no  longer,  on  account  of  their  crops. 

"I  consider,  therefore,  that  rather  than  that  they  should 
wholly  desert,  it  might  be  better  to  discharge  them,  and  wait 
the  coming  of  the  Nansemond  militia,  when  I  trusted  some- 

14 


158  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

thing  might  be  done  :  but  of  those  men  I  can  hear  no  tidings; 
and  unless  they  or  some  other  better  men  do  corne,  it  will  be 
out  of  my  power  to  effect  anything  with  the  militia  of  this 
county;  for  such  is  their  cowardly  disposition,  joined  to  their 
disaffection,  that  scarce  a  man,  without  being  forced,  can  be 
raised  to  go  after  the  outlyers. 

44  We  have  lost  Captain  Wilson  since  his  return  :  having  some 
private  business  at  a  neighbour's,  within  a  mile  of  his  owri 
house,  he  was  fired  on  by  four  men  concealed  in  the  house, 
and  wounded  in  such  a  manner  that  he  died  in  a  few  hours ; 
and  this  will  surely  be  the  fate  of  a  few  others,  if  their  request 
of  the  removal  of  the  relations  and  friends  of  those  villains 
be  not  granted,  which  I  am  again  pressed  to  solicit  for,  and  in 
which  case  neither  assistance,  pay,  nor  plunder,  is  expected ; 
conceiving  that  to  distress  their  supporters  is  the  only  means 
by  which  we  can  root  those  wretches  from  us,  and  thereby  es 
tablish  peace  and  security  to  ourselves  and  families. 

44  I  am,  with  great  respect,  honourable  sir, 

"  Your  most  obedient  humble  servant, 

"  JOHN  WILSON." 

44  May  24. — A  company  of  about  fifty  men  are  now  come 
from  Narisemond ;  but  I  am  informed  by  the  captain,  that  they 
will  not  be  kept  above  two  days,  five  having  deserted  already. 

44  JOHN  WILSON." 

The  governor  immediately  enclosed  this  letter  to  the  house 
of  delegates,  with  the  following  communication  : — 
44  TJie  Honourable  Benjamin  Harrison,  Esq.,  Speaker  of  the 
House  of  Delegates, 

"  WILLIAMSBUROH,  May  27,  1778. 

"  SIR  :  I  was  always  unwilling  to  trouble  the  general  assem 
bly  with  anything  that  seemed  of  too  little  consequence  for 
deliberation.  In  that  view  I  have  for  some  time  considered;  the- 
insurrection  in  Princess  Anne  and  Norfolk.  I  have  from-  time 
to  time  given  orders  to  the  commanding  officers  of  those  coun 
ties,  to  draw  from  the  militia  a  force  sufficient  to  quell  it.  These, 
officers  have  often  complained  of  the  difficulty  o-f  the  business, 
arising  partly  from  the  local  circumstances  attending  it,,  but 
chiefly  from  the  backwardness  and  even  disaffection,  of  the  peo 
ple.  In  order  to  remove  the  latter  obstacle,  I  gave  orders  for 
one  hundred  men  to  be  drawn  out  into,  this  service,  from  Nan- 
semond  county  ;  but  I  am  sorry  to  say,,  the  almost  tot#l  want  of 
discipline  in  that  and  too  many  other  militias  in  the  state,  seems 
to  forbid  the  hope  of  their  doing  much  to  effect. 

44  Col.  Wilson,  whose  letter  I  enclose,  has  several  times  given 
rue  to  understand,  that,  in  his  opinion*  the  removal  of  such 
families  as  are  in  league  with  insurgents,,  was  a  step  absolutely 


PATRICK    HENRY.  159 

necessary,  and  has  desired  me  to  give  orders  accordingly.  But 
thinking  that  the  executive  power  is  not  competent  to  such  a 
purpose,  I  must  beg  leave  to  submit  the  whole  matter  to  the 
assembly,  who  are  the  only  judges  how  far  the  methods  of 
proceeding  directed  by  law  are  to  be  dispensed  with  on  this  oc 
casion. 

'•  A  company  of  regulars,  drawn  from  the  several  stations, 
will  be  ordered  to  co-operate  with  the  militia,  though  indeed 
their  scanty  numbers  will  not  permit  it  to  be  done  without 
hazard.  But  I  cannot  help  thinking  this  ought  to  be  encoun 
tered  ;  for  an  apparent  disposition  to  disturb  the  peace  of  this 
state  has  been  manifested  by  these  people  during  the  whole 
course  of  the  present  war.  It  seems,  therefore,  that  no  effort 
to  crush  these  desperadoes  should  be  spared. 

"My  duty  would  no  longer  suffer  me  to  withhold  these  sev 
eral  matters  from  the  view  of  the  general  assembly,  to  whom  I 
beg  leave  to  refer  them  through  you. 
"With  great  regard, 

"  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  sir, 

"  Your  most  obedient  humble  servant, 

"P.  HENRY." 

This  letter  was  communicated  to  the  house  on  the  day  of  its 
date,  arid  was  immediately  referred  to  a  committee  of  the  whole 
house,  on  the  state  of  the  commonwealth.  That  committee 
was  immediately  formed  ;  but  not  having  time  to  go  through 
the  subject,  had  leave  to  sit  again.  On  the  next  day  the  house 
again  resolved  itself  into  a  committee  of  the  whole,  and  after 
some  time  spent  therein,  the  speaker  resumed  the  chair,  and 
Mr.  Carter  reported  on  the  subject  of  Philips,  as  follows  : — 

"  Information  being  received,  that  a  certain 
Philips,  with  divers  others,  his  associates  and  confederates, 
have  levied  war  against  this  commonwealth  within  the  counties 
of  Norfolk  and  Princess  Anne,  committing  murders,  burning 
houses,  wasting  farms,  and  doing  other  acts  of  enormity,  in  de 
fiance  of  the  officers  of  justice — 

"  Resolved,  That  it  is  the  opinion  of  this  committee,  that  if 
the  said  Philips,  his  associates,  and  confede 

rates,  do  not  render  themselves  to  some  officer,  civil  or  mili 
tary,  within  this  commonwealth,  on  or  before  day 
of  June,  in  this  present  year,  such  of  them  as  fail  so  to  do, 
ought  to  be  attainted  of  high  treason  ;  and  that  in  the  meantime, 
and  before  such  render,  it  shall  be  lawful  for  any  person,  with 
or  without  orders,  to  pursue  and  slay,  or  otherwise  to  take  and 
deliver  to  justice,  the  said  Philips,  his  associates 
and  confederates." 

Mr.  Jefferson,  Mr.  Smith,  and  Mr.  Tyler,  were  the  commit- 


160  WIRT*S    LIFE    OF 

tee  appointed  to  prepare  and  bring  in  a  bill,  pursuant  to  this 
resolution,  which  was  reported  on  the  same  day,  and  read  the 
first  time.  On  the  two  succeeding  days  it  was  read  a  second 
and  third  time;  and  thus  regularly  passed  through  the  forms 
of  the  lower  house.  It  was  communicated  to  the  senate  by  Mr 
Jefferson,  on  the  thirtieth  day  of  the  month,  and  returned,  pass 
ed  by  them,  without  amendment,  on  the  first  day  of  June,  which 
was  the  last  day  of  the  session.  The  act,  as  it  stands  upon  the 
statute  book  of  the  session,  is  as  follows: — • 
*'  An  act  to  attaint  Josiah  Philips  and  others,  unless  they  ren 
der  themselves  to  justice  within  a  certain  time. 

"  Whereas  a  certain  Josiah  Philips,  labourer,  of  the  parish 
of  Lynhaveniind  county  of  Princess  Anne,  together  with  divers 
others,  inhabitants  of  the  counties  of  Princess  Anne,  and  Nor 
folk,  and  citizens  of  this  commonwealth,  contrary  to  their 
fidelity,  associating  and  confederating  together,  have  levied  war 
against  this  commonwealth,  within  the  same,  committing  mur 
ders,  burning  houses,  wasting  farms,  and  doing  other  acts  of 
hostility  in  the  said  counties  of  Princess  Anne  and  Norfolk, 
and  still  continue  to  exercise  the  same  enormities  on  the  good 
people  of  this  commonwealth  ;  and,  whereas,  the  delays  which 
would  attend  the  proceeding  to  outlaw  the  said  offenders,  ac 
cording  to  the  usual  forms  and  procedures  of  the  courts  of  law, 
would  leave  the  said  good  people,  for  a  long  time  exposed  to 
murder  and  devastation  : — 

"  Be  it,  therefore,  enacted  by  the  general  assembly,  That  if 
the  said  Josiah  Philips,  his  associates  and  confederates,  shall 
not,  on  or  before  the  last  day  of  June,  in  the  present  year,  ren 
der  themselves  to  the  governor,  or  to  some  member  of  the  privy 
council,  judge  of  the  general  court,  justice  of  the  peace,  or  com 
missioned  officer  of  the  regular  troops,  navy  or  militia  of  this 
commonwealth,  in  order  to  their  trials  for  the  treasons,  mur 
ders,  and  other  felonies  by  them  committed,  that,  then,  such  of 
them,  the  said  Josiah  Philips,  his  associates  and  confederates, 
as  shall  not  so  render  him  or  themselves,  shall  stand  and  be 
convicted  and  attainted  of  high  treason,  and  shall  suffer  the 
pains  of  death,  and  incur  all  forfeitures,  penalties,  and  disabili 
ties,  prescribed  by  the  law  against  those  convicted  and  attainted 
of  high  treason;  and  that  execution  of  this  sentence  of  attain 
der  shall  be  done,  by  order  of  the  general  court,  to  be  entered 
so  soon  as  may  be  conveniently,  after  notice  that  any  of  the 
said  offenders  are  in  custody  of  the  keeper  of  the  public  jail. 

"And  if  any  person  committed  to  the  custody  of  the  keeper 
of  the  public  jail,  as  an  associate  or  confederate  of  the  said 
Josiah  Philips,  shall  allege  that  he  has  not  been  of  his  associ 
ates  or  confederates,  at  any  time  after  the  first  day  of  July,  in 


PATRICK    HENRY. 


101 


the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  seventy- 
seven,  at  which  time  the  said  murders  and  devastations  were 
begun,  a  petit  jury  shall  be  summoned  and  charged,  according 
to  the  forms  of  the  law,  to  try,  in  the  presence  of  the  said  court, 
the  fact  so  alleged  ;  and  if  it  be  found  against  the  defendant, 
execution  of  this  act  shall  be  done  as  before  directed.  . 

"And  that  the  good  people  of  this  commonwealth  may  not, 
in  the  meantime,  be  subject  to  the  unrestrained  hostilities  of  the 
said  insurgents:  Be  it  further  enacted,  That  from  and  after  the 
passing  of  this  act,  it  shall  be  lawful  for  any  person,  with  or 
without  orders,  to  pursue  and  slay  the  said  Josiah  Philips,  and 
any  others  who  have  been  of  his  associates  or  confederaies,  at 
any  time  after  the  said  first  day  of  July  aforesaid,  and  shall  not 
have  previously  rendered  him  or  themselves  to  any  of  the  offi 
cers,  civil  or  military,  before  described,  or  otherwise  to  take 
and  deliver  them  to  justice,  to  be  dealt  with  according  to  law, 
Provided,  that  the  person  so  slain  be  in  arms  at  the  time,  or 
endeavouring  to  escape  being  taken." 

Philips  was  apprehended  in  the  course  of  the  autumn,  and 
indicted  by  Mr.  Edmund  Randolph,  attorney-general,  for  high 
way -robbery,  simply.  On  this  charge  he  was  tried  at  the  Oc 
tober  term  of  the  general  court,  convicted,  and  executed:  so 
that  the  act  of  attainder  was  never  brought  to  bear  upon  him  at 
all.  This  is  the  whole  case  of  Josiah  Philips.  The  reader 
will  judge  whether  Mr.  Henry  deserves  censure  for  having 
communicated  to  the  legislature  the  letter  of  Col.  Wilson ;  or 
whether  that  body  acted  with  too  much  severity  toward  a  wretch, 
who  had  not  only  set  the  laws  of  his  country  at  defiance,  but 
was  waging  a  cruel  and  dastardly  war  upon  men  without  arms, 
upon  women  and  children  ;  and  acting,  not  the  part  of  a  brave 
and  open  enemy,  but  that  of  an  enemy  of  the  human  family. 

Just  at  the  close  of  Mr.  Henry's  administration,  Virginia 
suffered  an  invasion  of  a  few  days,  under  the  British  officers 
Collin  and  Matthew.  They  seized  Fort  Nelson,  near  Norfolk, 
destroyed  the  naval  stores  at  Gosport,  burnt  Suffolk,  and  dis 
appeared  before  the  militia  could  be  rallied  to  chastise  their  in 
solence.  This  occurred  in  the  month  of  May,  seventeen  hun 
dred  and  seventy-nine  ;  and  the  facility  and  impunity  with  which 
the  enterprise  was  accomplished,  very  probably  suggested  the 
more  serious  invasion  of  the  state,  which  afterward  took  place 
under  the  traitor  Arnold. 

It  would  seem,  that  a  wish  was  entertained  to  re-elect  Mr. 
Henry 'to  the  office  of  governor  a  fourth  time,  although  the  con 
stitution  declared  him  ineligible  after  the  third  year.  The  im- 
•  pression  seems  to  have  been  that  his  appointment  for  the  first 
year,  not  having  been  made  by  delegates  who  had  themselves 

1*4* 


162 

been  elected  under  the  constitution,  ought  not  to  be  counted  as 
one  of  the  constitutional  years  of  service.  Mr.  Henry,  how 
ever,  had  too  scrupulous  a  respect  for  that  instrument  to  accept 
the  office,  even  in  a  doubtful  case ;  and,  therefore,  addressed 
the  following  letter  to  the  speaker: — 

"May  28,  1779. 

**  SIR  :  The  term  for  which  I  had  the  honour  to  be  elected 
governor  by  the  late  assembly  being  just  about  to  expire,  and 
the  constitution,  as  I  think,  making  me  ineligible  to  that  office, 
I  take  the  liberty  to  communicate  to  the  assembly  through  you, 
sir,  my  intention  to  retire  in  four  or  five  days. 

"I  have  thought  it  necessary  to  give  this  notification  of  my 
design,  in  order  that  the  assembly  may  have  the  earliest  oppor 
tunity  of  deliberating  upon  the  choice  of  a  successor  to  me  in 
office.  With  great  regard, 

"I  have  the  honour  to  be,  sir, 

"  Your  most  obedient  servant, 

"P.  HENRY." 

Thus  closed  Mr.  Henry's  administration  :  and  although  he 
had  not  an  opportunity  of  distinguishing  it  by  any  splendid 
achievements,  it  is  honour  enough  that  he  had  given  universal 
satisfaction,  and  that  he  retired  with  a  popularity  confirmed  and 
increased. 

It  has  been  thought  best  not  to  break  the  chain  of  the  narra 
tive,  as  to  his  public  character,  by  noticing  the  changes  which 
had  before  this  time  occurred  in  his  domestic  relations.  It 
may  be  proper  to  pause  here  for  the  purpose  of  supplying  this 
omission. 

His  wife,  the  partner  of  his  youth,  and  the  solace  of  his  early 
adversities,  had  died  in  the  year  seventeen  hundred  and  seventy- 
five,  after  having  made  him  the  father  of  six  children.  The 
anguish  of  this  blow  was  mitigated  by  the  circumstance  of  her 
having  been,  for  several  years,  in  a  state  of  ill  health  and  of 
suffering,  from  which  there  was  no  hope  of  recovery ;  and  to 
her,  therefore,  death  indeed  "  came  like  a  friend  to  relieve  her 
from  pain." 

Neither  had  the  father  lived  to  witness  the  promotion  of  his 
son  to  the  highest  honours  of  the  republic.  He  had  lived  how 
ever,  long  enough  to  enjoy  the  first  bloom  of  his  fame,  and  to 
see  him  the  most  celebrated  and  rising  character  in  the  state. 
He  had  died  about  the  year  seventeen  hundred  and  seventy,  and 
left  behind  him  a  name  highly  respectable  for  every  private  and 
social  virtue. 

His  uncle,  for  whom  he  seems  to  have  had  a  strong  affection, 
had  died  during  his  government,  and  in  token  of  his  affection 
and  respect,  had  appointed  him  the  executor  of  his  will. 


PATRICK    HENRY.  163 

His  tender  and  indulgent  mother  still  survived,  and  felt  all 
that  pure  and  exquisite  delight,  which  the  well-deserved  honours 
of  her  son  were  calculated  to  inspire. 

After  the  death  of  his  wife,  Mr.  Henry  sold  the  farm  called 
Scotch  Town,  on  which  he  had  resided  in  Hanover,  and  pur 
chased  eight  or  ten  thousand  acres  of  valuable  land  in  the 
county  of  Henry  ;  a  county  which  had  been  erected  during  his 
government,  and  which  had  taken  its  name  from  him,  as  did 
afterward  its  neighbouring  county  of  Patrick.  In  the  year  sev 
enteen  hundred  and  seventy-seven,  he  intermarried  with  Doro 
thea,  the  daughter  of  Mr.  Nathaniel  W.  Dandridge,  with  whom, 
after  the  resignation  or  expiration  of  his  office,  he  removed  to 
his  newly-acquired  estate,  called  Leatherwood,  and  there  re 
sumed  the  practice  of  the  law.  In  the  year  seventeen  hundred 
and  eighty,  we  find  him  again  in  the  assembly,  and  one  of  the 
most  active  members  in  the  house. 

During  the  winter  session  of  this  year,  General  Gates  entered 
the  city  of  Richmond  from  his  southern  campaign,  where  he 
had  most  wofully  fulfilled  General  Lee's  prediction.*  His  total 
defeat  at  Camden,  and  a  series  of  subsequent  ill  fortune,  had 
left  South  Carolina  completely  in  the  hands  of  the  victorious 
British  ;  and  to  increase  his  humiliation,  congress  had  not  only 
superseded  him  in  that  command,  by  the  substitution  of  General 
Greene,  but  had  passed  a  resolution  requiring  the  commander- 
in-chief  to  order  a  court  of  inquiry  on  his  conduct.  Under 
these  accumulated  disgraces,  the  unfortunate  general  entered 
the  city  of  Richmond  ;  when  Mr.  Henry  moved  a  resolution 
which  displays,  in  a  most  engaging  light,  the  delicate  and  gene 
rous  sensibility  of  his  character;  it  was  as  follows: — 

"Resolved,  Tiiat  a  committee  of  four  be  appointed  to  wait 
on  Major-general  Gates,  and  to  assure  him  of  the  high  regard 
and  esteem  of  this  house ;  that  the  remembrance  of  his  former 
glorious  services  cannot  be  obliterated  by  any  reverse  of  for 
tune  ;  but  that  this  house,  ever  mindful  of  his  great  merit,  will 
omit  no  opportunity  of  testifying  to  the  world,  the  gratitude 
which,  as  a  member  of  the  American  union,  this  country  owes 
to  him  in  his  military  character." 

The  author  may  be  permitted  to  say  of  a  state,  which  is  his 
only  by  adoption,  that  in  an  assembly  of  Virginians,  this  gen 
erous  resolution  could  not  fail  to  pass  unanimously.  The 
committee  appointed  to  communicate  it  to  the  general,  were, 
Mr.  Henry,  Mr.  Richard  H.  Lee,  Mr.  Zane,  and  General  Nel 
son.  We  may  be  assured,  that  a  committee,  chosen  with  so 

*  When  Gen.  Charles  Lee  heard  of  Gen.  Gates's  appointment  to  the  com 
mand  of  the  southern  army,  he  foretold  that  "  his  northern  laurels  would  ba 
turned  into  sov.thc.rn  7c;7/o?f.v." 


164  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

much  judgment,*  discharged  their  duty  in  a  manner  the  most 
grateful  to  the  wounded  feelings  of  the  general ;  and  on  the 
next  day,  Mr.  Henry  reported  the  following  answer,  which  was 
spread  upon  the  journal : — 

"RICHMOND,  December  28,  1780. 

"SiR:  I  shall  ever  remember  with  the  utmost  gratitude,  the 
high  honour  this  day  done  me  by  the  honourable  the  house  of 
delegates  of  Virginia.  When  engaged  in  the  noble  cause  of 
freedom  and  the  United  States,  I  devoted  myself  entirely  to  the 
service  of  obtaining  the  great  end  of  their  union.  That  I  have 
been  once  unfortunate  is  my  great  mortification ;  but,  let  the 
event  of  my  future  services  be  what  they  may,  they  will,  as 
they  always  have  been,  be  directed  by  the  most  faithful  integ 
rity,  and  animated  by  the  truest  zeal  for  the  honour  and  interest 
of  the  United  States.  "  HORATIO  GATES." 

The  spring  and  summer  of  the  next  year  presented  a  period 
of  even  deeper  darkness  than  the  autumn  of  seventeen  hundred 
and  seventy-six.  Virginia,  had  not,  hitherto,  been  the  theatre 
of  hostile  operations  of  a  very  serious  character ;  her  sufferings 
had  been  rather  those  of  sympathy  with  her  northern  and  south 
ern  sisters  ;  but  in  this  year  the  calamities  of  war  were  brought 
home  to  her  own  bosom.  Arnold's  invasion  took  place  in  Ja 
nuary  :  having  carried  his  ravages  as  high  up  as  Richmond  and 
Westham,  he  retired  to  Portsmouth,  where  he  rested  till  April, 
when  General  Philips  succeeded  to  the  command,  and  paid  an 
other  visit  of  desolation  to  Manchester. 

In  the  next  month  came  Lord  Cornwallis,  with  his  victorious 
army  from  the  south,  driving  everything  before  him,  and  stri 
king  terror  into  whatsoever  quarter  he  approached.  Having 
formed  a  junction  between  his  forces  and  those  under  the  com 
mand  of  General  Philips,  there  was  no  longer  a  military  force 
in  the  state  which  had  the  power  to  resist  Mm.  The  inferior 
body  of  republican  troops,  under  the  Marquis  la  Fayette,  moved 
before  him,  without  the  ability  to  strike  a  blow  ;  and  Cornwallis 
roamed  at  pleasure,  and  without  any  apprehension,  through  the 
interior  of  the  state. 

The  seventh  of  May  was  the  day  appointed  by  law  for  the 
meeting  of  the  assembly  at  Richmond.  A  few  members  met 
and  took  the  oaths  prescribed  bylaw;  but  the  number  not  being 
sufficient  to  proceed  to  business,  the  house  was  adjourned  from 
day  to  day  until  the  tenth;  when,  upon  information  of  the  ap- 

*  Mr.  Henry,  the  mover,  had  recently  closed  his  administration  with  honour, 
as  the  first  republican  governor  of  Virginia,  and  was  the  most  considerable  man 
in  the  commonwealth  ;  Mr.  Lee  was  a  member  of  the  congress,  whose  vote  we 
have  just  mentioned ;  Mr.  Zane  represented  the  county  in  which  Gen.  Gates 
lived ;  and  Gen.  Nelson  was  the  most  popular  military  character  in  the  state. 


PATRICK  HENRY.  165 

proach  of  the  enemy,  they  adjourned  to  the  twenty-fourth,  to 
meet  at  Charlottesville.  It  was  not  until  the  twenty-eighth,  that 
a  house  was  formed  to  proceed  to  business  at  this  place ;  when 
Mr.  Benjamin  Harrison  was  elected  speaker,  and  after  making 
the  usual  acknowledgments  for  that  honour,  proceeded  to  ad 
dress  the  following  remarks  to  the  house ;  which  I  quote,  not 
because  they  are  a  very  favourable  specimen  of  Mr.  Harrison's 
oratory,  but  to  show  the  panic  which  prevailed  even  among  the 
first  men  of  the  country: — 

"The  critical  and  dangerous  situation  of  our  country  leads 
me  to  hope,  that  my  recommending  it  to  you  to  despatch  the 
Weighty  matters  that  will  be  under  your  consideration,  with  all 
convenient  speed,  will  not  be  taken  amiss ;  the  people  expect 
that  effectual  and  decisive  measures  will  be  taken  to  rid  them 
of  an  implacable  enemy,  that  are  now  roaming  at  large  in  the 
very  bowels  of  our  country,  and  I  have  no  doubt  of  your  an 
swering  their  expectations  ;  the  mode  of  doing  this  may  indeed 
be  difficult :  but  it  not  being  my  province  to  point  it  out,  I  shall 
leave  it  to  your  wisdom,  in  full  confidence  that  everything  that 
is  necessary  for  quieting  the  minds  and  dispelling  the  fears  of 
our  constituents,  will  be  clone." 

Eight  days  after  this  address,  Mr.  John  Jouett,  a  citizen  of 
the  place,  entered  the  town  on  horseback,  at  full  speed,  and  an 
nounced  the  near  and  rapid  approach  of  Tarlton,  at  the  head 
of  three  hundred  cavalry  and  mounted  infantry.  The  house 
had  just  met,  and  was  about  to  commence  business,  when  the 
alarming  cry  of  "Tarlton  and  the  British,"  was  spread  through 
the  village ;  and  they  had  scarcely  taken  time  to  adjourn  infor 
mally  to  Staunton,  when  Tarlton  rushed  like  a  thunderbolt  into 
the  village,  in  the  confident  expectation  of  seizino-  the  whole 
assembly  ;  but  the  birds  had  flown.  He  made  seven  of  them 
only  prisoners.  The  rest  reassembled  in  Staunton,  on  the  sev 
enth  of  June.  On  the  tenth  of  June,  a  false  report  of  his  ap 
proach  produced  another  panic;  and  the  house  having  merely 
taken  time  to  resolve  that  they  would  meet  at  the  Warm  Springs, 
if  it  should  be  found  dangerous  to  meet  in  Staunton  on  the  next 
day;  and  on  their  failure  so  to  do,  that  the  speaker  might  call 
a  meeting,  when  and  where  he  pleased,  again  broke  up  and 
dispersed. 

It  was  at  this  period  of  almost  hopeless  darkness,  when  the 
energies  of  the  state  seemed  to  have  been  pretty  nearly  para 
lyzed,  that  the  project  of  a  dictator  was  again  revived  ;  and  it 
is  again  highly  probable,  that  Mr.  Henry  was  the  character  who 
was  in  view  for  that  office.  Inquiries  have  been  made  of  the 
surviving  members  of  that  assembly  to  ascertain  whether  the 
project  could  be  traced  to  him,  or  whether  he  had  any  kind  of 


166  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

participation  in  the  proposal ;  but  those  inquiries  have  resulted 
en  a  conviction  of  his  entire  innocence.  The  project  came  from 
other  quarters,  and  seems  to  have  been  the  last  refuge  of  that 
general  despair  which  for  a  short  time  pervaded  the  whole 
commonwealth. 

But  this  period  of  deep  darkness  was  the  harbinger  of  break 
ing  day.  The  morning  dawned  with  the  arrival  of  those  aids 
from  France,  which  Mr.  Henry  had  so  long  ago  predicted  ;  and 
the  sun  of  American  independence  arose  to  set  no  more.  He 
lived  to  witness  the  glorious  issue  of  that  revolution  which  his 
genius  had  set  in  motion ;  and  (to  repeat  his  own  prophetic 
language,  before  the  commencement  of  the  struggle)  "to  see 
America  take  her  stand  among  the  nations  of  the  earth."  The 
contest  closed  with  the  capture  of  Cornwallis,  at  Little  York, 
on  the  nineteenth  of  October,  seventeen  hundred  arid  eighty- 
one ;  and  thus,  the  ball  of  the  revolution  rested  in  the  same 
state  in  which  it  had  received  the  first  impulse. 

This  enlightened  and  patriotic  statesman,  however,  was  not 
yet  inclined  to  indulge  himself  in  that  repose  to  which  he  was 
so  well  entitled.  The  constitution  of  the  state  had  as  yet  been 
tried  only  in  war,  when  the  sense  of  common  danger,  and  their 
ardour  in  the  common  cause,  might  of  themselves  have  been 
sufficient  to  keep  the  people  together,  and  to  supply,  in  a  good 
degree,  the  place  of  government.  It  was  necessary  to  see  how 
the  instrument  would  work  in  peace ;  what  assurance  it  gave 
of  public  order  and  well-regulated  liberty  ;  or  whether  any,  and 
what  defects  in  the  plan  required  amendment. 

There  were  other  considerations,  too,  which  called  loudly  for 
attention.  The  war  had  left  the  country  in  a  most  deplorable 
situation  ;  poor  and  in  debt ;  its  warriors  unrequited  ;  its  finances 
wholly  deranged  ;  its  jurisprudence  unsettled;  and  all  its  facul 
ties  weak,  disordered,  and  exhausted.  This  was  no  time  for 
the  patriot  to  quit  his  post.  It  demanded  all  his  vigilance  to 
guard  the  infant  republic  against  the  machinations  of  its  enemies, 
both  abroad  and  at  home ;  it  required  all  his  care  and  all  his 
skill  to  heal  the  numerous  disorders  which  had  flowed  from  the 
war;  to  nurse  the  new-born  nation  into  health  and  strength  ;  to 
develop  its  resources,  moral  and  physical ;  and  thus  to  give 
security  and  permanence  to  its  liberties. 

With  the  view  of  contributing  his  aid  to  those  great  objects, 
Mr.  Henry  still  continued  to  represent  the  county  of  his  resi 
dence,  in  the  legislature  of  the  state,  and  controlled  the  pro 
ceedings  of  that  body,  with  a  weight  of  personal  authority,  and 
a  power  of  eloquence,  which  it  was  extremely  difficult,  and  in 
deed  almost  impossible  to  resist.  A  striking  evidence  of  this 
power  was  given,  immediately  on  the  close  of  the  revolution, 


PATRICK    HENRY.  167 

in  his  advocating  the  return  of  the  British  refugees.  The  mea 
sure  WHS  most  vehemently  opposed.  There  was  no  class  of 
human  beings  against  whom  such  violent  and  deep-rooted  pre 
judices  existed.  The  name  of  "  British  tory,"  was  of  itself 
enough,  at  that  period,  to  throw  almost  any  company  in  Vir 
ginia  into  flames,  and  was  pretty  generally  a  signal  for  a  coat 
of  tar  and  feathers  ;  a  signal  which  was  not  very  often  disobeyed. 
Mr.  Henry's  proposition  in  favour  of  a  class  of  people  so  odious 
could  not  fail  to  excite  the  strongest  surprise  ;  and  was,  at  first, 
received  with  a  repugnance  apparently  insuperable. 

The  late  Judge  Tyler,  then  the  speaker  of  the  house,  op 
posed  it  in  the  committee  of  the  whole,  with  great  warmth  ;  and 
in  the  course  of  the  discussion,  turning  from  the  chairman  to 
Mr.  Henry,  he  asked  him,  "how  he,  above  all  other  men,  could 
think  of  inviting  into  his  family,  an  enemy,  from  whose  insults 
•and  injuries  he  had  suffered  so  severely?"  To  this  Mr.  Henry 
answered,  that  "the  personal  feelings  of  a  politician  ought  not 
to  be  permitted  to  enter  those  walls.  The  question,"  he  said, 
"  was  a  national  one,  and  in  deciding  it,  if  they  acted  wisely, 
nothing  would  be  regarded  but  the  interest  of  the  nation. 

"On  the  altar  of  his  country's  good  he  was  willing  to  sacri 
fice  all  personal  resentments,  all  private  wrongs — and  he  flat 
tered  himself,  that  he  was  not  the  only  man  in  the  house  who 
was  capable  of  making  such  a  sacrifice.  We  have,  sir,"  said 
he,  "an  extensive  country,  icithout  population — what  can  be  a 
more  obvious  policy  than  that  this  country  ought  to  be  peopled  ? 
— people,  sir,  form  the  strength,  and  constitute  the  wealth  of  a 
nation.  I  want  to  see  our  vast  forests  filled  up  by  some  process 
a  little  more  speedy  than  the  ordinary  course  of  nalure.  I  wish 
to  see  these  states  rapidly  ascending  to  that  rank  which  their 
natural  advantages  authorize  them  to  hold  among  the  nations  of 
the  earth.  Cast  your  eyes,  sir,  over  this  extensive  country — 
observe  the  salubrity  of  your  climate ;  the  variety  and  fertility 
of  your  soil — and  see  that  soil  intersected  in  every  quarter  by 
bold,  navigable  streams,  flowing  to  the  east  and  to  the  west,  as 
if  the  finger  of  Heaven  were  marking  out  the  course  of  your 
settlements,  inviting  you  to  enterprise,  and  pointing  the  way  to 
wealth. 

"  Sir,  you  are  destined,  at  some  time  or  other,  to  become  a 
great  agricultural  and  commercial  people;  the  only  question  is, 
whether  you  choose  to  reach  this  point  by  slow  gradations,  and 
at  some  distant  period  ;  lingering  on  through  a  long  and  sickly 
minority ;  subjected,  meanwhile,  to  the  machinations,  insults, 
and  oppressions  of  enemies,  foreign  and  domestic,  without 
sufficient  strength  to  resist  and  chastise  them  ;  or  whether  you 
choose  rather  to  rush  at  once,  as  it  were,  to  the  full  enjoyment 


168 

of  those  high  destinies,  and  be  able  to  cope,  single-handed,  with 
the  proudest  oppressor  of  the  old  world. 

If  you  prefer  the  latter  course,  as  I  trust  you  do,  encourage 
emigration  ;  encourage  the  husbandmen,  the  mechanics,  the  mer 
chants  of  the  old  world,  to  come  and  settle  in  this  land  of  prom 
ise  ;  make  it  the  home  of  the  skilful,  the  industrious,  the  fortunate 
and  happy,  as  well  as  the  asylum  of  the  distressed  ;  fill  up  the 
measure  of  your  population  as  speedily  as  you  can,  by  the  means 
which  Heaven  hath  placed  in  your  power  ;  and  I  venture  to 
prophesy  there  are  those  now  living,  who  will  see  this  favoured 
land  among  the  most  powerful  on  earth ;  able,  sir,  to  take 
•care  of  herself,  without  resorting  to  that  policy  which  is  always 
so  dangerous,  though  sometimes  unavoidable,  of  calling  in 
foreign  aid. 

"  Yes,  sir  ;  they  will  see  her  great  in  arts  and  in  arms — her 
golden  harvests  waving  over  fields  of  immeasurable  extent ;  her 
commerce  penetrating  the  most  distant  seas,  and  her  cannon 
silencing  the  vain  boasts  of  those  who  now  proudly  aftect  to 
rule  the  waves.  But,  sir,  you  must  have  men;  you  cannot  get 
along  without  them;  those  heavy  forests  of  valuable  timber, 
under  which  your  lands  are  groaning,  must  be  cleared  away; 
those  vast  riches  which  cover  the  face  of  your  soil,  as  well  as 
those  which  lie  hid  in  its  bosom,  are  to  be  developed  and  gath 
ered  only  by  the  skill  arid  enterprise  of  men  ;  your  timber,  sir, 
must  be  worked  up  into  ships,  to  transport  the  productions  of 
the  soil  from  which  it  has  been  cleared  ;  then  you  must  have 
commercial  men  and  commercial  capital,  to  take  off  your  pro 
ductions,  and  find  the  best  markets  for  them  abroad  ;  your 
great  want,  sir,  is  the  want  of  men  ;  and  these  you  must  have,  and 
will  have  speedily,  if  you  are  wise. 

"Do  you  ask  how  you  are  to  get  them?  Open  your  doors, 
sir,  and  they  will  come  in ;  the  population  of  the  old  world  is 
full  to  overflowing;  that  population  is  ground,  too,  by  the  op,-- 
pressions  of  the  governments  under  which  they  live.  Sir,  th<  *y 
are  already  standing  on  tiptoe  upon  their  native  shores,  ?  ,nd: 
looking  to  your  coasts  with  a  wistful  and  longing  eye  ;  they  see 
here  a  land  blessed  with  natural  and  political  advantage? ,  w  hich 
are  not  equalled  by  those  of  any  other  country  upon  e-  arth ; 
a  land  on  which  a  gracious  Providence  hath  emptied  t  he  horn 
of  abundance ;  a  land  over  which  peace  hath  now  s  tn  >tched 
forth  her  white  wings,  and  where  content  and  plenty  lif  •  down 
at  every  door  ! 

"Sir,  they  see  something  still  more  attractive  than  }  tll  this  ; 
they  see  a  land  in  which  liberty,  hath  taken  up  her  ab<  x  ]e  ;  that 
liberty,  whom  they  had  considered  as  a  fabled  goddc;?  $s,  exist 
ing  only  in  the  fancies  of  poets  ;  they  see  her  here,  i  i  real  di« 


PATRICK    HENRY.  i69 

vinity ;  her  altars  rising  on  every  hand  throughout  these  happy 
states  :  her  glories  chanted  by  three  millions  of  tongues  ;  and 
the  whole  region  smiling  under  her  blessed  influence.  Sir,  let 
but  this  our  celestial  goddess,  liberty,  stretch  forth  her  fair  hand 
toward  the  people  of  the  old  world  ;  tell  them  to  come,  and  bid 
them  welcome ;  and  you  will  see  them  pouring  in  from  the  north, 
from  the  south,  from  the  east,  and  from  the  west ;  your  wilder 
nesses  will  be  cleared  and  settled  ;  your  deserts  will  smile ;  your 
ranks  will  be  filled  ;  and  you  will  soon  be  in  a  condition  to  defy 
the  powers  of  any  adversary. 

"  But  gentlemen  object  to  any  accession  from  Great  Britain  ; 
and  particularly  to  the  return  of  the  British  refugees.  Sir,  I 
feel  no  objection  to  the  return  of  these  deluded  people ; 
they  have,  to  be  sure  mistaken  their  own  interests  most 
wofully,  and  most  wofully  have  they  suffered  the  punish 
ment  due  to  their  offences.  But  the  relations  which  we  bear  to 
them  and  to  their  native  country  are  now  changed  ;  their  king 
hath  acknowledged  our  independence  ; — the  quarrel  is  over  ; 
peace  hath  returned  and  found  us  a  free  people.  Let  us  have 
the  magnanimity,  sir,  to  lay  aside  our  antipathies  and  prejudices, 
and  consider  the  subject  in  a  political  light. 

"Those  are  an  enterprising,  moneyed  people;  they  will  be 
serviceable  in  taking  off  the  surplus  produce  of  our  lands,  and 
supplying  us  with  necessaries,  during  the  infant  state  of  our 
manufactures.  Even  if  they  be  inimical  to  us  in  point  of  feel 
ing  and  principle,  I  can  see  no  objection,  in  a  political  view,  in 
making  them  tributary  to  our  advantage.  And  as  I  have  no 
prejudices  to  prevent  my  making  this  use  of  them,  so,  sir,  I 
have  no  fear  of  any  mischief  that  they  can  do  us.  Afraid  of 
them ! — what,  sir," — said  he,  rising  to  one  of  his  loftiest  atti 
tudes,  and  assuming  a  look  of  the  most  indignant  and  sovereign 
•contempt, — "  shall  we,  who  have  laid  the  proud  British  lion  at 
our  feet,  now  be  afraid  of  his  whelps  ?" 

The  force  of  this  figure,  and  the  energy  with  which  it  was 
brought  out,  are  said  to  have  produced  an  effect  that  made  the 
house  start  simultaneously.  It  continued  to  be  admired,  long 
after  the  occasion  which  gave  it  birth  had  passed  away,  and  was 
frequently  quoted  by  Mr.  Wythe  to  his  students,  while  professor 
of  law  at  William  and  Mary  college,  as  a  happy  specimen  of 
those  valuable  figures,  which  unite  the  beauty  of  decoration 
with  the  effect  of  argument. 

The  gentleman  (Judge  Tyler)  to  whom  I  am  indebted  for  the 
preceding  incident,  has  favoured  me  also  with  the  following 
one,  which  I  shall  give  in  his  own  words : — 

"Mr.  Henry  espoused  the  measure  which  took  off  the  re 
straints  on  British  commerce,  before  any  treaty  was  entered 
ID 


no 

into;  in  which  I  opposed  him  on  this  ground,  that  that  measure 
would  expel  from  this  country  the  trade  of  every  other  nation, 
on  account  of  our  habits,  language,  and  the  manner  of  conduct 
ing  business  on  credit  between  us  and  them:  also  on  thia 
ground,  in  addition  to  the  above,  that  if  we  changed  the  then 
current  of  commerce,  we  should  drive  away  all  competition, 
and  never  perhaps  should  regain  it,  (which  has  literally  hap 
pened.)  In  reply  to  these  observations,  he  was  beyond  all 
expression  eloquent  and  sublime. 

"  After  painting  the  distresses  of  the  people,  struggling 
through  a  perilous  war,  cut  off  from  commerce  so  long  that 
they  were  naked,  and  unclothed,  he  concluded  with  a  figure, 
or  rather  a  series  of  figures,  which  I  shall  never  forget, 
because,  beautiful  as  they  were  in  themselves,  their  effect  was 
heightened  beyond  all  description,  by  the  manner  in  which  he 
acted  what  he  spoke  : — '  Why,'  said  he, '  should  we  fetter  com 
merce  ?  If  a  man  is  in  chains,  he  droops  and  bows  to  the  earth, 
for  his  spirits  are  broken,'  looking  sorrowfully  at  his  feet ;  *  but 
let  him  twist  the  fetters  from  his  legs,  and  he  will  stand  erect, 
— straightening  himself,  and  assuming  a  look  of  proud  defiance. 
Fetter  not  commerce,  sir — let  her  be  as  free  as  air — she  will 
range  the  whole  creation,  and  return  on  the  wings  of  the  four 
winds  of  heaven,  to  bless  the  land  with  plenty.'  " 

In  the  fall  session  of  seventeen  hundred  and  eighty-four,  Mr. 
Henry  proposed  and  advocated  several  measures  which  deserve 
particular  mention  : — one  of  them,  on  account  of  the  originality 
and  boldness  of  mind  from  which  it  proceeded ;  and  others,  be 
cause  they  have  sometimes  been  made  the  subjects  of  censure 
against  him.  The  first  respects  the  Indians.  Those  unfortu 
nate  beings,  the  natural  enemies  of  the  white  people,  whom 
they  regarded  as  lawless  intruders  into  a  country  set  apart  for 
themselves  by  the  Great  Spirit,  had  continued,  from  their  first 
landing,  to  harass  the  white  settlements,  and  hang,  like  a  pesti 
lence  on  their  frontier,  as  it  advanced  itself  toward  the  west. 

The  story  of  their  accumulated  wrongs,  handed  down  by  tra 
dition  from  father  to  son,  and  emblazoned  with  all  the  colours 
of  Indian  oratory,  had  kept  their  war-fires  smoking  from  age  to 
age,  and  the  hatchet  and  seal  ping-knife  perpetually  bright. 
They  had  long  since  abandoned  the  hope  of  being  able,  by  their 
single  strength,  to  exterminate  the  usurpers  of  their  soil;  but 
either  from  the  spirit  of  habitual  and  deadly  revenge,  or  from 
the  policy  of  checking,  as  far  as  they  could,  the  perpetually  ex 
tending  encroachments  of  the  white  men,  they  had  waged  an 
unremitting  war  upon  their  borders,  marked  with  horrors  which 
eclipse  the  wildest  fictions  of  the  legendary  tale.  These  peo 
ple,  too,  besides  the  mischiefs  to  which  they  were  prompted  by 


PATRICK    HENRY.  171 

their  own  feelings  and  habits,  were  an  ever-ready  and  a  most 
terrific  scourge,  in  the  hands  of  any  enemy  with  whom  this 
country  might  be  at  variance. 

The  stories  of  these  border  skirmishes,  which  yet  live  in  the 
traditions  of  the  west,  are  highly  worthy  of  collection.  They 
exhibit  scenes  of  craft,  boldness,  and  ferocity,  on  the  part  of 
the  savages,  and  of  heroic  and  desperate  defence  by  the  semi- 
barbarous  men,  women,  and  children,  who  were  the  objects  of 
these  attacks,  which  mark  the  characters  of  both  sides  in  a  most 
interesting  manner.  Those  tales  of  the  long,  obstinate,  and 
bloody  defence  of  log-cabins  ;  of  the  almost  incredible  achieve 
ments  of  women  and  little  boys ;  of  the  sometimes  total  and 
sometimes  partial  havoc  of  families ;  of  the  captivity,  tortures, 
arid  death  of  some  ;  and  the  miraculous  escape,  wanderings,  and 
preservation  of  others — would  form  a  book  of  more  interest 
than  any  other  that  could  be  put  into  the  hands  of  a  Virginia 
reader ;  and  would  furnish  the  subject  of  many  a  novel,  drama, 
and  painting.  The  adventure  of  Captain  Smith  and  Pocahontas, 
if  you  put  aside  the  dignity  of  their  characters,  is  cold  and  tame, 
when  compared  with  some  which  are  related  among  the  western 
inhabitants  of  this  state. 

Dunmore,  although  thanked  at  the  time  for  his  services,  was 
afterward  believed,  by  the  house  of  burgesses,  to  have  made  use 
of  them  in  the  years  seventeen  hundred  and  seventy-four  and 
five,  in  order  to  draw  off  the  attention  of  the  colonists  from  the 
usurpation  of  the  British  court :  and,  in  the  recent  war  of  the 
revolution,  that  merciless  enemy  had  been  again  let  loose  upon 
our  frontier,  with  all  the  terrors  of  savage  warfare.  The  return 
of  peace  with  Britain  had  given  us  but  a  short  respite  from  their 
hostilities.  I  perceive,  by  the  journal  of  the  house  of  delegates, 
that  on  the  fifth  of  November,  seventeen  hundred  and  eighty- 
four,  it  was,  on  the  motion  of  Mr.  Henry, 

"Resolved,  That  the  governor,  with  the  advice  of  council, 
be  requested  to  adopt  such  measures  as  may  be  found  necessary 
to  avert  the  danger  of  hostilities  with  the  Indians,  and  to  incline 
them  to  treat  with  the  commissioners  of  congress  ;  and  for  that 
purpose  to  draw  on  the  treasury  for  any  sum  of  money  not  ex 
ceeding  one  thousand  pounds,  which  shall  stand  charged  to  the 
account  of  money  issued  for  the  contingent  charges  of  govern 
ment." 

A  treaty  with  the  Indians,  however,  was  well  known  to  be  a 
miserable  expedient;  the  benefits  of  which  would  scarcely  last 
as  long  as  the  ceremonies  that  produced  it.  The  reflecting  po 
litician  could  not  help  seeing,  that,  in  order  to  remove  the  an 
noyance  effectually,  the  remedy  must  go  to  the  root  of  the  dis 
ease — that  that  inveterate  and  fatal  enmity  which  rankled  in  the 


172  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

hearts  of  the  Indians  must  be  eradicated — that  a  common  inte 
rest  and  congenial  feelings  between  them  and  their  white  neigh 
bours  must  be  created — and  humanity  and  civilization  gradually 
superinduced  upon  the  Indian  character.  The  difficulty  lay  in 
devising  a  mode  to  effect  these  objects.  The  white  people  who 
inhabited  the  frontier,  from  the  constant  state  of  warfare  in 
which  they  lived  with  the  Indians,  had  imbibed  much  of  their 
character ;  and  learned  to  delight  so  highly  in  scenes  of  crafty, 
bloody,  and  desperate  conflict,  that  they  as  often  gave  as  they 
received  the  provocation  to  hostilities. 

Hunting,  which  was  their  occupation,  became  dull  and  tire 
some,  unless  diversified  occasionally  by  the  more  animated  and 
piquant  amusement  of  an  Indian  skirmish ;  just  as  "  the  blood 
more  stirs  to  rouse  a  lion  than  to  start  a  hare."  The  policy, 
therefore,  which  was  to  produce  the  deep  and  beneficial  change 
chat  was  meditated,  must  have  respect  to  both  sides,  and  be  cal 
culated  to  implant  kind  affections  in  bosoms  which  at  present 
were  filled  only  with  reciprocal  and  deadly  hatred.  The  remedy 
suggested  by  Mr.  Henry  was  to  encourage  marriages  between 
these  conterminous  enemies;  and  having  succeeded,  in  the 
committee  of  the  whole  house,  in  procuring  the  report  of  a  res 
olution  to  this  effect,  he  prepared  a  bill  which  he  is  said  to 
have  advocated  with  irresistible  earnestness  and  eloquence. 
The  inducements  held  out  by  this  bill,  to  promote  these  mar 
riages,  were,  pecuniary  bounties  to  be  given  on  the  certificate 
of  marriage,  and  to  be  repeated  at  the  birth  of  each  child ;  ex 
emption  from  taxes  ;  and  the  free  use  of  a  seminary  of  learning, 
to  be  erected  for  the  purpose,  arid  supported  at  the  expense  of 
the  state. 

This  bill,  which  is  thought  worthy  of  preservation,  as  a  polit 
ical  curiosity,  is  as  follows  : — 
"A  bill  for  the  encouragement  of  marriages  with  the  Indians. 

"Whereas,  intermarriages  between  the  citizens  of  this  com 
monwealth  and  the  Indians  living  in  its  neighbourhood,  may 
have  great  effect  in  conciliating  the  friendship  and  confidence 
of  the  latter,  whereby  not  only  their  civilization  may  in  some 
degree  be  finally  brought  v  *3t,  but  in  the  meantime,  their  hos 
tile  inroads  be  prevented  :  for  encouraging  such  intermarriages, 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly,  That  if  any  free 
white  male  inhabitant  of  this  commonwealth  shall,  according  to 
the  laws  thereof,  enter  into  the  bonds  of  matrimony  with  an 
Indian  female,  being  of  lawful  age,  and  under  no  precontract  to 
any  Indian  male,  and  shall  thereby  induce  her  to  become  an  in 
habitant  of  this  commonwealth,  and  to  live  with  him  in  the 
character  of  a  wife,  such  male  inhabitant,  on  producing  a  certifi 
cate  of  such  marriage,  under  the  hand  and  seal  of  the  person 


PATRICK    HENRY.  173 

celebrating  the  same,  shall  be  entitled  to  receive  a  premium  of 

pounds,  out  of  any  unappropriated  money  which  the 

treasurer  may  have  in  his  hands,  or  of  such  money  as  may 
hereafter  be  appropriated  to  such  use ;  shall,  over  and  above 

such  premium,  be  entitled  to  the  sum  of pounds,  for  every 

child  proceeding  from  such  marriage,  on  a  certificate  of  the  birth 
thereof,  and  their  apparent  cohabitancy,  under  the  hand  and  seal 
of  any  one  justice  of  the  peace  of  the  county  in  which  he  re 
sides,  and  shall,  moreover,  be  exempted  from  all  taxes  on  his 
person  and  property  for  and  during  the  time  of  such  cohabitancy. 

"And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  if  any  free  female  inhabit 
ant  of  this  commonwealth  shall,  in  like  manner,  intermarry 
with  any  male  Indian  of  lawful  age,  they  shall,  on  a  certificate 

thereof,  as  aforesaid,  be  entitled  to pounds,  to  be  paid  as 

aforesaid,  and  laid  out  under  the  direction  of  the  court  of  the 
county  within  which  such  marriage  shall  be  celebrated,  in  the 
purchase  of  live  stock,  for  his  and  her  use,  and  such  male  In 
dian  shall  be  annually,  on  the  first  day  of  October,  entitled  to 
pounds,  to  be  paid  as  aforesaid,  and  laid  out  under  the  di 
rection  of  the  said  court,  in  the  purchase  of  clothes  for  his  use ; 
and  each  male  child  proceeding  from  such  intermarriage,  shall, 

at  the  age  of be  removed  to  such  public  seminary  of 

learning,  as  the  executive  may  direct,  and  be  there  educated 
until  the  age  of  twenty-one,  at  the  public  expense,  to  be  defrayed 
out  of  such  funds  as  may  hereafter  be  appropriated  to  the  same. 
And  the  governor,  with  the  advice  of  council,  is  hereby  author 
ized  and  desired  to  cause  the  benefit  of  this  provision  to  be  ex 
tended  to  all  such  male  children ;  and  if  any  such  male  Indian 
shall  become  an  inhabitant  of  this  commonwealth,  he  shall  be 
moreover  exempted  from  all  taxes  on  his  person  or  the  property 
he  may  acquire. 

"And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  offspring  of  the  inter 
marriages  aforesaid,  shall  be  entitled,  in  all  respects,  to  the  same 
rights  and  privileges,  under  the  laws  of  this  commonwealth,  as 
if  they  had  proceeded  from  intermarriages  among  free  white 
inhabitants  thereof. 

"And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  executive  do  take  the 
most  effectual  and  speedy  measures  for  promulgating  this  act  to 
such  tribe  or  tribes  of  Indians  as  they  may  think  necessary." 

On  the  third  reading  of  the  bill,  the  first  blank  was  filled  with 
ten — the  second  with  five — the  third  with  ten — the  fourth  with 
three — and  the  fifth  with  ten  years. 

While  Mr.  Henry  continued  a  member  of  the  house,  the 
progress  of  this  bill  was  unimpeded.  It  passed  through  a  first 
and  second  reading,  and  was  engrossed  for  its  final  passage, 
when  his  election  as  governor  took  effect,  and  displaced  him 

15* 


174 

from  the  floor:  on  the  third  day  after  which  event  the  bill  was 
read  a  third  time  and  rejected. 

It  were  a  useless  waste  of  time  to  speculate  on  the  probable 
effects  of  this  measure,  had  it  succeeded.  It  is  considered, 
however,  as  indicative  of  great  humanity  of  character,  and  as 
marked  with  great  boldness,  if  not  soundness  of  policy.  Mr. 
Henry  is  said  to  have  been  extremely  sanguine  as  to  its  efficacy, 
and  to  have  supported  it  by  some  of  the  highest  displays  of  his 
eloquence. 

The  other  two  measures  to  which  I  have  adverted,  as  having 
been  patronised  by  Mr.  Henry,  at  this  session,  were,  the  incor 
poration  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  church,  and  what  is  called 
"  a  general  assessment."  These  measures  have  been  frequently 
stated,  in  conversation,  as  proofs  of  a  leaning  on  the  part  of 
Mr.  Henry,  toward  an  established  church,  and  that,  toe,  ihe 
aristocratic  church  of  England.  To  test  the  justness  of  this 
charge,  the  journals  of  the  house  of  delegates  have  been  exam 
ined,  and  this  is  the  result  of  the  evidence  which  they  iiirnish: 
on  the  seventeenth  of  November,  seventeen  hundred  and  eighty- 
four,  Mr.  Matthews  reported  from  the  committee  o^  the  whole 
house,  on  the  state  of  the  commonwealth,  the  following  resolu 
tion: — 

"Resolved,  That  it  is  the  opinion  of  this  committee,  that  acts 
ought  to  pass  for  the  incorporation  of  all  societies  of  ihe 
Christian  religion,  which  may  apply  for  th?  same" 

The  ays  and  noes  having  been  called  for,  on  the  passage  of 
this  resolution,  were,  ays,  sixty-two,  noes,  twenty-three;  Mr. 
Henry  being  with  the  majority. 

The  principle  being  thus  established  in  relation  to  all  religious 
societies,  which  should  desire  a  legal  existence  for  the  benefit 
of  acquiring  and  holding  property  to  the  use  of  their  respective 
churches,  leave  was  given,  on  the  same  day,  to  bring  in  a  bill 
to  incorporate  the  clergy  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  church, 
which  had  brought  itself  within  that  principle  by  having  applied 
for  an  act  of  incorporation;  and  Mr.  Henry  was  one,  but  not 
the  chairman,*  of  the  committee  appointed  to  bring  in  that  bill. 

How  a  measure  which  holds  out  to  all  religious  societies, 
equally,  the  same  benefit,  can  be  charged  with  partiality,  be 
cause  accepted  by  one  only,  it  is  not  very  easy  to  discern.  It 
would  seem,  to  an  ordinary  mind,  that  on  the  same  principle, 
the  Christian  religion  itself  might  be  charged  with  partiality, 
since  its  offers,  though  made  to  all,  are  accepted  but  by  a  few : 
and  it  is  very  certain,  that  if  Mr.  Henry  is  to  be  suspected  of 

*  The  chairman  was  Mr.  Carter  H.  Harrison ;  the  rest  of  the  committee 
were,  Mr.  Henry.  Mr.  Thomas  Smith,  Mr.  William  Anderson,  aad  Mr.  Taze- 
well. 


PATRICK    HENRY.  175 

a  bias  toward  an  established  church,  on  account  of  this  vote, 
the  charge  will  reach  some  of  the  foremost  and  best-establish 
ed  republicans  in  the  state,  whose,  names  stand  recorded  with 
Mr.  Henry's  on  this  occasion,  and  who  hold  to  this  day  the 
undiminished  confidence  of  their  countrymen. 

The  other  measure,  the  general  assessment,  proceeded  from 
a  number  of  petitions  from  different  counties  of  the  common* 
werjth,  which  prayed  that  as  all  persons  enjoyed  the  benefits 
ivi  religion,  all  might  be  required  to  contribute  to  the  expense 
of  supporting  some  form  of  worship  or  other.  The  commit 
tee  to  whom  these  petitions  were  referred,  reported  a  bill 
whose  preamble  sets  forth  the  grounds  of  the  proceeding,  and 
furnishes  a  conclusive  refutation  of  the  charge  of  partiality  to 
any  particular  form  of  religion.  The  bill  is  entitled,  "  A  bill, 
establishing  a  provision  for  teachers  of  the  Christian  religion;" 
and  its  preamble  is  in  the  following  words  : — 

"  Whereas  the  general  diffusion  of  Christian  knowledge 
hath  a  natural  tendency  to  correct  the  morals  of  men,  restrain 
their  vices,  and  preserve  the  peace  of  society  ;  which  cannot 
be  effected  without  a  competent  provision  for  learned  teachers, 
who  may  be  thereby  enabled  to  devote  their  time  and  attention 
to  the  duty  of  instructing  such  citizens  as,  from  their  circum 
stances  and  want  of  education,  cannot  otherwise  attain  such 
knowledge;  and  it  is  judged  such  provision  may  be  made  by 
the  legislature,  without  counteracting  the  liberal  principle 
heretofore  adopted  and  intended  to  be  preserved,  by  abolishing1 
all  distinctions  of  pre-eminence  among"  the  different  socie 
ties  or  communities  of  Christians.11 

The  provisions  of  the  bill  are  in  the  strictest  conformity  with 
the  principles  announced  in  the  close  of  the  preamble ;  the 
persons  subject  to  taxes  are  required,  at  the  time  of  giving  in 
a  list  of  their  titheables,  to  declare  to  what  particular  religious 
society  they  chose  to  appropriate  the  sums  assessed  upon  them, 
respectively ;  and,  in  the  event  of  their  failing  or  declining  to 
specify  any  appropriation,  the  sums  thus  circumstanced  are 
directed  to  be  paid  to  the  treasurer,  and  applied  by  the  general 
assembly  to  the  encouragement  of  seminaries  of  learning, 
in  the  counties  where  such  sums  shall  arise. 

If  there  be  any  evidence  of  a  leaning  toward  any  particular 
religious  sect  in  this  bill,  or  any  indication  of  a  desire  for  an 
established  church,  the  author  of  these  sketches  has  not  been 
able  to  discover  them.  Mr.  Henry  was  a  sincere  believer  in 
the  Christian  religion,  and  had  a  strong  desire  for  the  success 
ful  propagation  of  the  gospel,  but  there  was  no  tincture  of  big 
otry  or  intolerance  in  his  sentiments ;  nor  have  I  been  able  to 
learn  that  he  had  a  punctilious  preference  for  any  particulai 


176 

form  of  worship.  His  faith  regarded  the  vital  spirit  of  the 
gospel,  and  busied  itself  not  at  all  with  external  ceremonies  or 
controverted  tenets. 

Both  these  bills,  "  for  incorporating  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
church,"  and  "  establishing  a  provision  for  teachers  of  the 
Christian  religion,"  were  reported  after  Mr.  Henry  had  ceased 
to  be  a  member  of  the  house ;  but  the  resolutions  on  which 
they  were  founded  were  adopted  while  he  continued  a  mem 
ber,  and  had  his  warmest  support.  The  first  bill  passed  into 
a  law  ;  the  last  was  rejected  by  a  small  majority  on  the  third 
reading. 

The  same  session  afforded  Mr.  Henry  a  double  opportunity 
of  gratifying,  in  the  most  exquisite  manner,  that  naturally  bland 
and  courteous  spirit,  which  so  eminently  distinguished  his 
character.  General  Washington  and  the  Marquis  la  Fayette, 
both  of  them  objects  of  the  warmest  love  and  gratitude  to  this 
country,  visited  Richmond  in  November.  They  arrived  on 
different  days.  The  general  entered  the  city  on  the  fifteenth, 
and  the  journal  of  the  next  morning  exhibits  the  following 
order : — 

*'  The  house  being  informed  of  the  arrival  of  General  Wash 
ington  in  this  city,  Resolved,  nemine  contradicente,  that  as  a 
mark  of  their  reverence  for  his  character,  and  affection  for  his 
person,  a  committee  of  five  members  be  appointed  to  wait  upon 
him,  with  the  respectful  regard  of  this  house,  to  express  to 
him  the  satisfaction  they  feel  in  the  opportunity  afforded  by 
his  presence  of  offering  this  tribute  to  his  merits ;  and  to  as 
sure  him  that  as  they  not  only  retain  the  most  lasting  impres 
sions  of  the  transcendant  services  rendered  in  his  late  public 
character,  but  have,  since  his  return  to  private  life,  experienced 
proofs  that  no  change  of  situation  can  turn  his  thoughts  from 
the  welfare  of  his  country,  so  his  happiness  can  never  cease 
to  be  an  object  of  their  most  devout  wishes  and  fervent'suppli- 
cations. 

"And  a  committee  was  appointed  of  Mr.  Henry,  Mr.  Jones, 
(of  King  George,)  Mr.  Madison,  Mr.  Carter  H.  Harrison,  and 
Mr.  Carrington." 

To  this  spontaneous  and  unanimous  burst  of  feeling,  Gen 
eral  Washington  returned  an  answer  marked  with  his  char 
acteristic  modesty,  and  full  of  the  most  touching  sensibility. 
It  is  worthy  of  insertion,  as  showing,  in  a  soft  and  winning 
light,  a  character  with  which  we  are  apt  to  associate  only  the 
images  of  a  dignity  and  reserve,  approaching  to  sternness. 
"Gentlemen,"  said  he,  "my  sensibility  is  deeply  affected  by 
this  distinguished  mark  of  the  affectionate  regard  of  your  hon 
ourable  house.  I  lament,  on  this  occasion,  the  want  of  those 


PATRICK    HENRY.  177 

powers  which  would  enable  me  to  do  justice  to  my  feelings ; 
and  shall  rely  upon  your  indulgent  report  to  supply  the  defect ; 
at  the  same  time,  I  pray  you  to  present  for  me,  the  strongest 
assurances  of  unalterable  affection  and  gratitude,  for  this  last 
pleasing  and  flattering  attention  of  my  country." 

The  marquis,  who  had  been  to  France  since  the  close  of  hos 
tilities,  made  his  entree  on  the  morning  of  the  seventeenth  of 
November ;  and  the  house,  immediately  on  its  meeting,  came 
to  the  following  resolution  : — 

"  The  house  being  informed  of  the  arrival,  this  morning,  of 
the  Marquis  de  la  Fayette  in  this  city,  Resolved,  nemine  con- 
tradicente,  that  a  committee  of  five  be  appointed,  to  present  to 
him  the  affectionate  respects  of  this  house,  to  signify  to  him 
their  sensibility  to  the  pleasing  proof  given  by  this  visit  to  the 
United  States,  and  to  this  state  in  particular,  that  the  benevolent 
and  honourable  sentiments  which  originally  prompted  him  to 
embark  in  the  hazardous  fortunes  of  America,  still  render  the 
prosperity  of  its  affairs  an  object  of  his  attention  and  regard; 
and  to  assure  him,  that  they  cannot  review  the  scenes  of  blood 
and  danger  through  which  we  have  arrived  at  the  blessings  of 
peace,  without  being  touched,  in  the  most  lively  manner,  with 
the  recollection,  not  only  of  the  invaluable  services  for  which 
the  United  States  at  large  are  so  much  indebted  to  him,  but  of 
that  conspicuous  display  of  cool  intrepidity  and  wise  conduct, 
during  his  command  in  the  campaign  of  seventeen  hundred  and 
eighty-one,  which,  by  having  so  essentially  served  this  state  in 
particular,  have  given  him  so  just  a  title  to  its  particular  ac 
knowledgments.  That,  impressed  as  they  thus  are  with  the 
distinguished  lustre  of  his  character,  they  cannot  form  a  wish 
more  suitable,  than  that  the  lesson  it  affords  may  inspire  all 
those  whose  noble  minds  may  emulate  his  glory,  to  pursue  it 
by  means  equally  auspicious  to  the  interests  of  humanity. 

"  And  a  committee  was  appointed  of  Mr.  Henry,  Mr.  Mad 
ison,  Mr.  Jones,  (of  King  George,)  Mr.  Matthews,  and  Mr. 
Brent." 

To  this  address,  the  marquis  made  the  following  polite  and 
feeling  answer : — 

"  GENTLEMEN  :  With  the  most  respectful  thanks  to  your 
honourable  body,  permit  me  to  acknowledge,  not  only  the  flat 
tering  favour  they  are  now  pleased  to  confer,  but  also  the  con 
stant  partiality,  and  unbounded  confidence  of  this  state,  which 
in  trying  times,  I  have  so  happily  experienced.  Through  the 
continent,  gentlemen,  it  is  most  pleasing  for  me  to  join  with  my 
friends  in  mutual  congratulations  ;  and  I  need  not  add  what  my 
sentiments  must  be  in  Virginia,  where  step  by  step  have  I  so 
keenly  felt  for  her  distress,  so  eagerly  enjoyed  her  recovery. 


178  WHIT'S  LIFE  OF 

"  Our  armed  force  was  obliged  to  retreat,  but  your  patriotic 
hearts  stood  unshaken  ;  and  while,  either  at  that  period,  or  in  our 
better  hours,  my  obligations  to  you  are  numberless  ;  I  am  happy 
in  this  opportunity  to  observe,  that  the  excellent  services  of 
your  militia  were  continued  with  unparalleled  steadiness.  Im 
pressed  with  the  necessity  of  federal  union,  I  was  the  more 
pleased  in  the  command  of  an  army  so  peculiarly  federal ;  is 
Virginia  herself  freely  bled  in  defence  of  her  sister  states. 

"In  my  wishes  to  this  commonwealth,  gentlemen,  I  will  per 
severe  with  the  same  zeal,  that  once  and  for  ever  has  devoted 
me  to  her.  May  her  fertile  soil  rapidly  increase  her  wealth — 
may  all  the  waters  which  so  luxuriantly  flow  within  her  limits, 
be  happy  channels  of  the  most  extensive  trade — and  may  she  in 
her  wisdom,  and  the  enjoyment  of  prosperity,  continue  to  give 
the  world  unquestionable  proofs  of  her  philanthropy  and  her 
regard  for  the  liberties  of  all  mankind. 

"LAFAYETTE." 

Time  had  now  brought  forward  several  new  political  charac 
ters,  who  had  risen  high  in  the  public  estimation:  but  Mr. Henry 
and  Mr.  Lee  still  kept  their  ground  far  in  the  van.  A  gentle 
man  of  great  distinction,  who  began  his  public  career  in  seven 
teen  hundred  and  eighty-three,  found  both  these  eminent 
men  in  the  house  of  delegates,  and  heard  them  for  the  first 
time  in  debate :  ho  served  through  the  two  sessions  of  that  and 
those  of  the  following  year,  and  has  communicated  to  me  so 
vivid  and  interesting  a  comparison  of  their  merits,  as  they  struck 
his  young  and  ardent  mind,  that  I  cannot  consent  to  withhold  it 
from  the  reader. 

"I  met  with  Patrick  Henry  in  the  Assembly  in  May,  seven 
teen  hundred  and  eighty-three.  I  also  then  met  with  Richard  H. 
Lee.  I  lodged  with  Mr.  Lee  one  or  two  sessions,  and  was 
perfectly  acquainted  with  him,  while  I  was  yet  a  stranger  to 
Mr.  Henry.  These  two  gentlemen  were  the  great  leaders  in 
the  house  of  delegates,  and  were  almost  constantly  opposed  : 
there  were  many  other  great  men  Avho  belonged  to  that  body ; 
but,  as  orators,  they  cannot  be  named  with  Henry  or  Lee.  Mr. 
Lee  was  a  polished  gentlemen  :  he  had  lost  the  use  of  one  of 
his  hands,  but  his  manner  was  perfectly  graceful. 

"•  His  language  was  always  chaste,  and  although  somewhat 
too  monotonous,  his  speeches  were  always  pleasing;  yet  he 
did  not  ravish  your  senses,  nor  carry  away  your  judgment  by 
storm.  His  was  the  mediate  class  of  eloquence  described  by 
Rollin  in  his  belles  lettres  ;  he  was  like  a  beautiful  river,  mean 
dering  through  a  flowery  mead,  but  which  never  overflowed  its 
banks.  It  was  Henry  who  was  the  mountain  torrent  that 
swept  away  everything  before  it :  it  was  he  alone  who  thun- 


PATRICK    HENRY,  179 

tiered  and  lightened  :  he  alone  attained   that  sublime  species  of 
eloquence  also  mentioned  by  Rollin. 

"  It  has  been  one  of  the  greatest  pleasures  of  my  life  to  hear 
these  two  great  masters,  almost  constantly  opposed  to  each 
other,  for  several  sessions.  I  had  no  relish  for  any  other 
speaker.  Henry  was  almost  always  victorious.  He  was  as 
much  superior  to  Lee  in  temper  as  in  eloquence  ;  for  while, 
with  a  modesty  approaching  almost  to  humility,  he  would  apol 
ogise  to  the  house  for  being  so  often  '  obliged  to  differ  from 
the  honourable  gentleman,  which  he  assured  them,  was 
from  no  want  of  respect  for  him.'  Lee  was  frequently  much 
chafed  by  the  opposition  ;  and  I  once  heard  him  say  aloud,  and 
petulantly,  after  sustaining  a  great  defeat,  that,  'if  the  votes 
were  weighed  instead  of  being  counted,  he  should  not  have 
lost  it'* 

"  Mr.  Henry  was  inferior  to  Mr.  Lee  in  the  gracefulness  of 
his  action,  and  perhaps  also  in  the  chasteness  of  his  language: 
yet  his  language  was  seldom  incorrect,  and  his  address  always 
striking.  He  had  a  tine  blue  eye,  and  an  earnest  manner, 
which  made  it  impossible  not  to  attend  to  him.  His  speaking 
was  unequal,  and  always  rose  with  the  subject  and  the  exigency. 
In  this  respect  he  differed  entirely  from  Mr,  Lee,  who  was  al 
ways  equal,  and  therefore  less  interesting.  At  some  times, 
Mr.  Henry  would  seem  to  hobble,  (especially  at  the  beginning 
of  his  speeches,)  and  at  others,  his  tones  would  be  almost  dis 
agreeable  :  yet  it  was  by  means  of  his  tones,  and  the  happy 
modulation  of  his  voice,  that  his  speaking  had  perhaps  its 
greatest  effect. 

*  This  hit  of  Mr.  Lee  was  thought  a  very  happy  one  at  the  time.  I 
have  heard  it  mentioned  by  several  others  who  were  members  of  the  house, 
particularly  by  Judge  Tyler.  This  gentleman  represented  it  as  having  occurred 
after  a  division  and  count  of  the  house,  and  just  as  the  members  were  about 
to  return  to  their  seats.  A  member  who  was  in  the  majority,  and  who  was 
not  very  remarkable  either  for  intellect  or  urbanitv,  said,  with  a  coarse  laugh, 
to  Mr.  Lee,  "Well,  you  see  you  have  lost  it."  Upon  which  the  latter,  look 
ing  at  him  with  rather  a  contemptuous  and  sneering  countenance,  answered, 
"  Yes,  /  have  lost  it,  but  if  votes  were  weighed  instead  of  being  counted,  I 
should  iwt  have  lost  it." 

Was  this  thought  original  in  Mr.  Lee,  or  had  he  unconsciously  borrowed  it 
from  the  younger  Pliny !  "  Sed  hoc  pluribus  [levius]  visum  est.  Nume- 
rantur  enim  sentential,  non  pondcrantur:  nee  aliud  in  publico  consilo  potest 
fieri,  in  quo  nihil  est  tam  inaequale,  quam  aequalitas  ipsa  ;  nan  cum  sit  impar 
prudentia,  par  omnium  jus  est." — PLIN.  Epist.  Lib.  II.  Epist.  XII. 

"Yet  these  reflections,  it  seems,  made  no  impression  upon  the  majority. 
Votes  go  by  number,  not  weight ;  nor  can  it  be  otherwise  in  assemblies  of 
this  kind,  where  nothing  is  more  unequal  than  that  equality  which  pre- 
raila  in  them ;  for  though  every  member  has  the  same  weight  of  suffrage,  erenr 
member  has  not  the  same  strength  of  judgment." — MELMOTH'S  Translation  of 
Pliny.  London,  1748. 


180  WIRT'S  LIFE  op 

"  He  had  a  happy  articulation — a  clear,  bold,  strong  voice — 
and  every  syllable  was  distinctly  uttered.  He  was  always  very 
unassuming,  and  very  respectful  toward  his  adversaries ;  the 
consequence  was,  that  no  feeling  of  disgust  or  animosity  was 
arrayed  against  him.  He  was  great  at  a  reply,  and  greater  in 
proportion  to  the  pressure  which  was  bearing  upon  him ;  and 
it  seemed  to  me,  from  the  frequent  opportunities  of  observa 
tion  afforded  me  during  the  period  of  which  I  have  spoken,  that 
the  resources  of  his  mind  and  of  his  eloquence  were  equal  to 
any  drafts  which  could  possibly  be  made  upon  them." 

This  inequality  in  the  speeches  of  Mr.  Henry,  was  imputed 
by  some  of  his  observers  to  art.  He  always  spoke,  they  say, 
for  victory,  and  wishing  to  carry  every  one  with  him,  adapted 
the  different  parts  of  his  discourse  to  their  different  capacities. 
A  critic  of  a  higher  order  would  sometimes  think  him  trifling, 
when  in  truth  he  was  making  a  most  powerful  impression  on 
the  weaker  members  of  the  house.  By  these  means  it  is  said, 
he  contrived  to  worm  his  way  through  the  whole  body,  and  to 
insinuate  his  influence  into  every  mind.  When  he  hobbled,  it 
was  like  the  bird  that  thus  artfully  seeks  to  decoy  away  the 
foot  of  the  intruder  from  the  precious  deposite  of  her  brood  ;  and 
at  the  moment  when  it  would  be  thought  that  his  strength  was 
almost  exhausted,  he  would  spring  magnificently  from  the 
earth,  and  tower  above  the  clouds. 

He  knew  all  the  local  interests  and  prejudices  of  every  quar 
ter  of  the  state,  and  of  every  county  in  it ;  and  whether  these 
prejudices  were  rational  or  irrational,  it  is  said  that  he  would 
appeal  to  them  without  hesitation,  and,  whenever  he  found  it 
necessary,  enlist  them  in  his  cause.  His  address  on  these  oc 
casions  has  been  highly  admired  even  by  those  who  have  cen 
sured  the  course  as  deficient  in  dignity  and  candour.  It  was 
executed  with  so  much  delicacy  and  adroitness,  and  covered 
under  a  countenance  of  such  apostolic  solemnity,  that  the 
persons  on  whom  he  was  operating  were  unconscious  of  the 
design. 

Winding  his  way  thus  artfully  through  the  house,  from  coun 
ty  to  county,  from  prejudice  to  prejudice,  with  the  power  of  mov 
ing  them,  when  he  pleased,  from  tears  to  laughter,  from  laughter 
to  tears,  of  astonishing  their  imaginations,  and  overwhelming 
their  judgments  and  hearts,  it  is  easy  to  conceive  how  irresist 
ible  he  must  have  been.  When  with  these  prodigious  faculties 
the  reader  connects  his  engaging  deportment  out  of  the  house 
— the  uncommon  kindness  and  gentleness  of  his  nature — the 
•implicity,  frankness,  and  amenity  of  his  manners — the  inno 
cent  playfulness  and  instruction  of  his  conversation — the  in 
tegrity  of  his  life — and  the  high  sense  of  the  services  which  he 


PATRICK    HENRY.  181 

had  rendered  to  the  cause  of  liberty  and  his  country — he  will 
readily  perceive,  that  the  opinions  and  wishes  of  such  a  man 
would  be,  of  themselves,  almost  decisive  of  any  question. 

The  artifice  of  resorting  to  erroneous  local  prejudices,  in  a 
legislative  debate,  is  certainly  not  to  be  commended.  Truth 
stands  in  need  of  no  such  aids.  It  must  be  admitted  that  there 
is  more  purity  as  well  as  dignity,  in  supporting  a  sound  meas 
ure  by  sound  arguments  only  :  and  we  must  be  prepared  to 
become  Jesuits,  before  we  can  justify  a  resort  to  wrong  means 
to  promote  even  a  right  end.  In  excuse  of  Mr.  Henry,  we 
have  nothing  to  urge  except  immemorial  and  almost  universal 
usage;  and  it  is  moreover  highly  probable,  that  many  of  the 
instances,  in  which  he  was  accused  of  resorting  improperly  to 
local  prejudices,  were  cases  in  which  the  questions  were,  from 
their  nature,  to  be  decided,  in  a  great  measures  by  local  inter 
ests.  Of  this  description  is  the  following  one,  now  furnished, 
at  my  request,  in  writing,  by  Judge  Archibald  Stuart,  from 
whom  I  had  the  pleasure  to  hear  it  in  conversation  several 
years  ago  : — 

*'  At  your  request,  I  attempt  a  narrative  of  the  extraordinary 
effects  of  Mr.  Henry's  eloquence  in  the  Virginia  legislature, 
about  the  year  seventeen  hundred  and  eighty-four,  when  I  was 
present  as  a  member  of  that  body. 

"The  finances  of  the  country  had  been  much  deranged  during 
the  war,  and  public  credit  was  at  a  low  ebb;  a  party  in  the  leg 
islature  thought  it  then  high  time  to  place  the  character  and 
credit  of  the  state  on  a  more  respectable  footing,  by  laying  tax 
es  commensurate  with  all  the  public  demands.  With  this  view, 
a  bill  had  been  brought  into  the  house,  and  referred  to  a  com 
mittee  of  the  whole;  in  support  of  which  the  then  speaker,  (Mr. 
Tyler,)  Henry  Tazewell,  Mann  Page,  William  Ronald,  anrf 
many  other  members  of  great  respectability,  (including,  to  the 
best  of  my  recollection,  Richard  H.  Lee,  and,  perhaps,  Mr. 
Madison,)  took  an  active  part.  Mr.  Henry,  on  the  other  hand, 
was  of  opinion  that  this  was  a  premature  attempt;,  that  policy 
required  that  the  people  should  have  some  repose  after  the  fa 
tigues  and  privations  to  which  they  had  been  subjected,  during 
a  long  and  arduous  struggle  for  independence. 

"The  advocates  of  the  bill,  in  committee  of  the  whole  house* 
used  their  utmost  efforts,  and  were  successful  in  conforming  it 
to  their  views,  by  such  a  majority  (say  thirty)  as  seemed  to  en 
sure  its  passage.  When  the  committee  rose,  the  bill  was  in 
stantly  reported  to  the  house;  when  Mr.  Henry,  who  had  been 
excited  and  roused  by  his  recent  defeat,  came  forward  again  in 
all  the  majesty  of  his  power.  For  some  time  after  he  com- 

16 


182  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

menced  speaking,  the  countenances  of  his  opponents  indicated 
no  apprehension  of  danger  to  their  cause. 

"The  feelings  of  Mr.  Tyler,  which  were  sometimes  warm, 
could  not  on  that  occasion  be  concealed,  even  in  the  chair.  His 
countenance  was  forbidding,  even  repulsive,  and  his  face  turned 
from  the  speaker.  Mr.  Tazewell  was  reading  a  pamphlet :  and 
Mr.  Page  was  more  than  usually  grave.  After  some  time, 
however,  it  was  discovered  that  Mr.  Tyler's  countenance  grad 
ually  began  to  relax  ;  he  would  occasionally  look  at  Mr.  Henry  ; 
sometimes  smile  ;  his  attention  by  degrees  became  more  fixed  ; 
at  length  it  became  completely  so  : — he  next  appeared  to  be 
in  good  humour ;  he  leaned  toward  Mr.  Henry — appeared 
charmed  and  delighted,  and  finally  lost  in  wonder  and  amaze 
ment.  The  progress  of  these  feelings  was  legible  in  his  counte 
nance. 

"  Mr.  Henry  drew  a  most  affecting  picture  of  the  state  of 
poverty  and  suffering  in  which  the  people  of  the  upper  counties 
had  been  left  by  the  war.  His  delineation  of  their  wants 
and  wretchedness  was  so  minute,  so  full  of  feeling,  and  withal 
so  true,  that  he  could  scarcely  fail  to  enlist  on  his  side  every 
sympathetic  mind.  He  contrasted  the  severe  toil  by  which  they 
had  to  gain  their  daily  subsistence,  with  the  facilities  enjoyed 
by  the  people  of  the  lower  counties.  The  latter,  he  said,  re 
siding  on  the  salt  rivers  and  creeks,  could  draw  their  supplies 
at  pleasure,  from  the  waters  that  flowed  by  their  doors  ;  and 
then  he  presented  such  a  ludicrous  image  of  the  members  who 
had  advocated  the  bill,  (the  most  of  whom  were  from  the  lower 
counties,)  peeping  and  peering  along  the  shores  of  the  creeks, 
to  pick  up  their  mess  of  crabs,  or  addling  off  to  the  oyster- 
rocks,  to  rake  for  their  daily  bread,  *  as  filled  the  house  with  a 
roar  of  merriment.  Mr.  Tazewell  laid  down  his  pamphlet,  and 
shook  his  sides  with  laughter  ;  even  the  gravity  of  Mr.  Page 
was  affected  :  a  corresponding  change  of  countenance  prevailed 
through  the  ranks  of  the  advocates  of  the  bill,  and  you  might 
discover  that  they  had  surrendered  their  cause.  In  this  they 
were  not  disappointed  ;  for  on  a  division,  Mr.  Henry  had  a 
majority  of  upward  of  thirty  against  the  bill." 

iff  this  be  a  fair  specimen  of  the  cases  (as  probably  it  is)  in 
which  Mr.  Henry  was  accused  of  appealing  improperly  to  local 
prejudices,  the  censure  seems  undeserved.  It  is  obvious  that 
the  consideration  urged  by  him,  on  this  occasion,  belonged 
properly  to  the  subject,  and  that  the  appeal  to  local  circum 
stances  was  fairly  made.  Candour  will  justify  us  in  looking, 

*  At  that  day,  (and  perhaps  still,)  the  poorer  people  on  the  salt  creeks, 
lived  almost  exclusively  on  fish  ;  passing  whole  days,  and  sometimes  weeks» 
without  seeing  a  grain  of  bread. 


PATRICK    HENRY.  183 

with  great  distrust,  to  the  censures  cast  on  this  extraordinary 
man,  by  rivpals  whom  he  had  obscured. 

On  the  seventeenth  of  November,  seventeen  hundred  and 
eighty-four,  Mr.  Henry  was  again  elected  governor  of  Virginia, 
to  commence  his  service  from  the  thirtieth  day  of  the  same 
month.  The  communication  made  by  him  to  the  first  legisla 
ture  which  met  after  his  election,  is  inserted  in  the  Appendix; 
it  is  given  at  large,  as  a  specimen  of  Mr.  Henry's  style  in  more 
extended  compositions  than  have  yet  been  submitted  to  the 
reader,  and  for  the  further  purpose  of  showing,  that  the  objects 
with  which  a  governor  of  Virginia,  acting  within  the  pale  of  the 
constitution,  is  conversant  in  time  of  peace,  are  riot  such  as  to 
shed  much  lustre  on  his  character,  or  to  solicit  very  powerfully 
the  attention  of  his  biographer.  (See  Appendix,  Note  B.) 

In  examining  the  public  archives  of  this  date,  there  is  a  cir 
cumstance  whose  frequent  and  indeed  constant  recurrence, 
presses  itself  most  painfully  on  the  attention  :  I  mean  the  re 
signation  of  state  officers,  on  the  plea  of  a  necessity  to  resort 
to  some  more  effectual  means  of  subsistence.  It  is  not  generally 
known,  that  the  councils  of  Virginia  were,  during  the  period 
of  which  we  are  now  speaking,  enlightened  and  adorned  bv 
some  of  the  brightest  of  her  sons  ;  much  less  is  it  known  that 
they  were  driven  from  those  councils,  by  that  wretched  policy 
which  has  always  regulated  the  salaries  of  officers  in  Virginia. 
The  letters  of  resignation,  during  the  years  seventeen  hundred 
and  eighty-four,  five,  and  six,  which  now  stand  on  the  public 
files,  afford  the  best  comment  on  this  policy. 

Virginia  lost  during  those  years,  the  services  of  such  men  as 
have  rarely  existed  in  this  or  any  other  country  ;  and  such  as 
she  can  never  hope  to  see  again  in  her  councils,  until  the  sys 
tem  of  penury  shall  yield  to  that  of  liberality.  At  the  close  of 
the  war,  indeed,  there  was  some  apology  for  this  penury;  the 
country  was  wretchedly  poor  and  in  debt.  But  this  cause 
has  long  since  ceased,  and  with  it  also  should  cease  the 
affrct. 

Virginia  is  now  rich,  and  may  fill  her  offices  with  the  flower  of 
her  sons  ;  but  can  it  be  expectf  1  that  men  who  wish  to  live  free 
from  debt,  and  to  leave  their  families  independent  at  their  deaths, 
will  relinquish  the  pursuits  by  which  they  are  able  to  affect 
these  objects,  and  enter  upon  a  service  full  of  care,  responsi 
bility,  and  anxiety;  a  service  whose  certain  fruits  (if it  be  their 
only  dependance)  must  be  a  life  of  pecuniary  embarrassment; 
and  (what  is  still  worse)  their  wives  and  children,  after  their 
deaths,  must  be  cast  on  the  charity  of  a  cold  and  unfeeling 
world.  Ought  such  a  sacrifice  to  be,  expected'?  and  yet  must 
it  not  be  the  inevitable  consequence  of  an  exclusive  dependance 


184  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

on  the  salary  of  any  office  in  Virginia,  which   requires  talents 
of  the  highest  order? 

How  affecting  is  that  spectacle  which  we  have  seen  of  a  pub- 
lic  officer,  who,  having  worn  out  the  prime  and  vigour  of  life  in 
the  service  of  his  country,  instead  of  being  enabled  to  retire,  in 
old  age,  to  the  repose  and  peace  which  he  so  justly  deserved,  is 
compelled  to  toil  on  for  subsistence,  though  trembling,  perhaps, 
under  the  weight  of  eighty  winters,  oppressed  by  debt,  harassed 
by  his  creditors,  with  the  certainty  before  him  of  dying  poor 
and  involved;  and  leaving  his  posterity,  if  he  have  any,  on  the 
parish  !  How  forcibly  does  it  remind  us  of  that  pathetic  ex 
clamation  of  Wolsey  : — 

"0  Cromwell,   Cromwell, 
Had  I  but  served  my  God,  with  half  the  zeal 
I  served  my  king,  he  would  not,  in  mine  age 
Have  left  me  naked  to  my  enemies  !" 

Is  it  in  reference  to  the  warm  and  generous  state  of  Virginia, 
that  these  reflections  can  be  made,  and  made  too  with  truth  and 
justice ! 

These  remarks  are  not  foreign  to  our  story  :  in  the  fall  of 
seventeen  hundred  and  eighty-six,  while  yet  a  year  remained 
of  his  constitutional  term,  Mr.  Henry  was  under  the  necessity 
of  retiring  from  the  office  of  governor.  There  never  was  a 
man  whose  style  of  living  was  more  perfectly  unostentatious, 
temperate  and  simple  ;  yet  the  salary  had  been  inadequate  to 
the  support  of  his  family  ;  and,  at  the  end  of  two  years,  he 
found  himself  involved  in  debts,  which  for  the  moment,  he  saw 
no  hope  of  paying,  but  by  the  sacrifice  of  a  part  of  his  estate. 
Let  it  be  remembered,  that  this  occurred  in  the  year  seventeen 
hundred  and  eighty-six ;  and  let  it  be  further  remembered,  that 
the  salary  was  then  very  nearly  what  it  still  remains  ! 

In  consequence  of  Mr.  Henry's  declining  a  re-election,  the 
legislature  proceeded  to  appoint  his  successor  ;  and  then,  on 
the  succeeding  twenty-fifth  of  November,  the  house  of  dele 
gates  came  to  the  following  resolution  : — 

"  Resolved,  unanimously,  That  a  committee  be  appointed  to 
wait  on  his  excellency  the  governor,  and  present  him  the  thanks 
of  this  house,  for  his  wise,  prudent,  and  upright  administration, 
during  his  last  appointment  of  chief  magistrate  of  this  com 
monwealth,  assuring  him  that  they  retain  a  perfect  sense  of  his 
abilities,  in  the  discharge  of  the  duties  of  that  high  and  impor 
tant  office,  and  wish  him  all  domestic  happiness,  on  his  return 
to  private  life." 

To  this  resolution,  Mr.  Corbin,  one  of  the  committee,  re 
ported  the  following  answer  from  Mr.  Henry : — 


PATRICK    HENRY.  185 

'•GENTLEMEN:  The  house  of  delegates  have  done  me  dis 
tinguished  honour,  by  the  resolution  they  have  been  pleased  to 
communicate  to  me  through  you.  I  am  happy  to  find  my  en 
deavours  to  discharge  the  duties  of  my  station,  have  met  with 
their  favourable  acceptance. 

"  The  approbation  of  my  country  is  the  highest  reward  to 
which  my  mind  is  capable  of  aspiring,  arid  I  shall  return  to 
private  life,  highly  gratified  in  the  recollection  of  this  instance 
of  regard  shown  me  by  the  house;  haying  only  to  regret  that 
my  abilities  to  serve  my  country  have  come  so  short  of  my 
wishes. 

**  At  the  same  time  that  I  make  my  best  acknowledgments  to 
the  house  for  their  goodness,  I  beg  leave  to  express  my  par 
ticular  obligations  to  you,  gentlemen,  for  the  polite  manner  in 
which  this  communication  is  made  to  me." 

On  the  fourth  of  December,  in  the  same  year,  Mr.  Henry 
was  appointed  by  the  legislature,  one  of  seven  deputies  from 
this  commonwealth  to  meet  a  convention  proposed  to  be  held 
in  Philadelphia,  on  the  following  May,  for  the  purpose  of  re 
vising  the  federal  constitution.  On  this  list  of  deputies,  his 
name  stands  next  to  that  of  him,  who  stood  of  right  before  all 
others  in  America  ;  the  order  of  appointment  as  exhibited  by 
the  journals  being  as  follows  :  George  Washington,  Patrick 
Henry,  Edmund  Randolph,  John  Blair,  James  Madison,  George 
Mason,  and  George  Wythe. 

The  same  cause,  however,  which  had  constrained  Mr.  Henry's 
retirement  from  the  executive  chair  of  state,  disabled  him  now 
from  obeying  this  honourable  call  of  his  country.  On  his  re 
signing  the  government,  he  retired  to  Prince  Edward  county, 
and  endeavoured  to  cast  about  for  the  means  of  extricating  him 
self  from  his  debts.  At  the  age  of  fifty  years,  worn  down  by 
more  than  twenty  years  of  arduous  service  in  the  cause  of  his 
country,  eighteen  of  which  had  been  occupied  by  the  toils  and 
tempests  of  the  revolution,  it  was  natural  for  him  to  wish  for 
rest,  and  to  seek  some  secure  and  placid  port  in  which  he 
might  repose  himself  from  the  fatigues  of  the  storm.  This, 
however,  was  denied  him;  and  after  having  devoted  the  bloom 
of  youth  and  the  maturity  of  manhood  to  the  good  of  his  country, 
he  had  now  in  his  old  age  to  provide  for  his  family. 

"  H e  had  never"  says  a  correspondent,  (Judge  Winston,) 
"been  in  easy  circumstances ;  and  soon  after  his  removal  to 
Prince  Edward  county,  conversing  with  his  usual  frankness 
with  one  of  his  neighbours,  he  expressed  his  anxiety  under  the 
debts  which  he  was  not  able  to  pay;  the  reply  was  to  this 
effect :  «  Go  back  to  the  bar ;  your  tongue  will  soon  pay  your 

" 


186 

debts.     If  you  will  promise  to  go,  I  will  give  you  a  retaining 
fee  on  the  spot.' 

"  This  blunt  advice  determined  him  to  return  to  the  practice 
of  the  law  ;  which  he  did  in  the  beginning  of  seventeen  hun 
dred  and  eighty-eight ;  and  during  six  years  he  attended  reg 
ularly  the  district  courts  of  Prince  Edward  and  New  London." 

Direful  must  have  been  the  necessity  which  drove  a  man  of 
Mr.  Henry's  disposition  and  habits,  at  his  time  of  life,  and 
tempest-beaten  as  he  was,  to  resume  the  practice  of  such  a  pro 
fession  as  the  law.  He  would  not,  however,  undertake  the 
technical  duties  of  the  profession;  his  engagements  were  con 
fined  to  the  argument  of  the  cause  ;  and  his  clients  had  of 
course,  to  employ  other  counsel,  to  conduct  the  pleadings,  and 
ripen  their  cases  for  hearing.  Hence  his  practice  was  restricted 
to  difficult  and  important  cases ;  but  his  great  reputation  kepi 
him  constantly  engaged  ;  he  was  frequently  called  to  distant 
courts  ;  the  light  of  his  eloquence  shone  in  every  quarter  of  the 
state,  and  thousands  of  tongues  were  everywhere  employed  in, 
repeating  the  fine  effusions  of  his  genius. 

The  federal  constitution,  the  fruit  of  the  convention  at  Phila 
delphia,  had  now  come  forth,  and  produced  an  agitation  which 
had  not  been  felt  since  the  return  of  peace.  The  friends  and 
the  enemies  to  its  adoption  were  equally  zealous  and  active  in 
their  exertions  to  promote  their  respective  wishes  ;  the  presses 
throughout  the  continent  teemed  with  essays  on  the  subject ; 
and  the  rostrum,  the  pulpit,  the  field,  and  the  forest,  rung  with 
declamations  and  discussions  of  the  most  animated  character. 
Every  assemblage  of  people,  for  whatsoever  purpose  met,  either 
for  court  or  church,  muster  or  barbecue,  presented  an  arena  for 
the  political  combatants;  and  in  some  quarters  of  the  union, 
such  was  the  public  anxiety  of  the  occasion,  that  gentlemen  in 
the  habit  of  public  speaking,  converted  themselves  into  a  sort 
of  itinerant  preachers,  going  from  county  to  county,  and  from 
state  to  state,  collecting  the  people  by  distant  appointments,  and' 
challenging  all  adversaries  to  meet  and  dispute  with  them  the- 
propriety  of  the  adoption  of  the  federal  constitution. 

All  who  sought  to  distinguish  themselves  by  public  speakingv 
all  candidates  for  popular  favour,  and  especially  the  junior  mem 
bers  of  the  bar,  flocked  to  these  meetings  from  the  remotest  dis 
tances,  and  entered  the  lists  with  all  the  ardour,  and  gallantry 
of  the  knights  of  former  times  at  their  tilts  and  tournaments. 
Never  was  there  a  theme  more  fruitful  of  discussion,  and  never 
was  there  one  more  amply  or  ably  discussed. 

Of  the  convention  which  was  to  decide  the  fate  of  this  instru 
ment  in  Virginia,  Mr.  Henry  was  chosen  a  member  for  the  county 
of  Prince  Edward.  Although  the  constitution  had  come  forth 


PATRICK    HENRY.  187 

with  the  sanction  of  the  revered  name  of  Washington,  and  car 
ried  with  it  all  the  weight  of  popularity  which  that  name  could 
not  fail  to  attach  to  any  proposition,  it  had  not  the  good  fortune 
•to  be  approved  by  Mr.  Henry.  He  was  (to  use  his  own  expres 
sion)  "mo.>t  awfully  alarmed"  at  the  idea  of  its  adoption  ;  for  he 
considered  it  as  threatening  the  liberties  of  his  country;  and  he 
determined,  therefore,  to  buckle  on  once  more  the  armour  which 
he  had  hung  up  in  the  temple  of  peace,  and  try  the  fortune  of 
this,  the  last  of  his  political  fields. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Convention  at  Richmond  on  the  Adoption  of  the  Federal  Constitution — Un 
common  Array  of  Men  of  Talent  in  the  Convention — Mr.  Henry's  Reply  to 
Gen  Lee — To  Mr.  Pendleton — Synopsis  of  the  chief  Objections  to  the 
Constitution — Mr.  Henry's  Reply  to  Mr.  Madison  and  Mr.  Corbin — Singular 
Incident  connected  with  Mr.  Henry's  closing  Address — Session  of  the  As 
sembly  in  October — Mr.  Henry  nominates  Richard  H.  Lee  and  Mr.  Grayson 
as  Senators  in  Opposition  to  Mr.  Madison — His  Resolutions  in  the  Assembly 
on  the  Subject  of  the  Constitution — Anecdote  of  his  Retaliation  upon  a  young 
Member — Draft  of  Letters  to  Governor  Clinton  and  to  several  States. 

THE  convention  met  in  Richmond,  on  the  second  of  June, 
seventeen  hundred  and  eighty-eight,  and  exhibited  such  an  array 
of  variegated  talents,  as  had  never  been  collected  before  within 
the  limits  of  the  state,  and  such  a  one  as  it  may  well  be  feared 
we  shall  never  see  again.  A  few  of  the  most  eminent  of  these 
statesmen  are  still  alive;  of  whom,  therefore,  delicacy  forbids 
us  to  speak  as  they  deserve.  Their  powers,  however,  and  the 
peculiar  characters  of  their  intellectual  excellence,  are  so  well 
known  that  their  names  will  be  sufficient  to  speak  their  respect 
ive  eulogies. 

We  may  mention,  therefore,  Mr.  Madison,  the  late  president 
of  the  United  States;  Mr.  Marshall,  the  chief-justice;  and  Mr. 
Monroe,  now  the  president.  What  will  the  reader  think  of  a 
body,  in  which  men  like  these  were  only  among  their  equals! 
Yet  such  is  the  fact;  for  there  were  those  sages  of  other  days, 
Pendleton  and  Wy the;  there  was  seen  displayed  the  Spartan 
vigour  and  compactness  of  George  Nichols;  and  there  shone 
the  radiant  genius  and  sensibility  of  Grayson;  the  Roman  en 
ergy  and  the  Attic  wit  of  George  Mason  was  there;  and  there, 
also,  the  classic  taste  and  harmony  of  Edmund  Randolph;  "the 
splendid  conflagration"  of  the  high-minded  Innis;  and  the 
matchless  eloquence  of  the  immortal  Henry! 


188  WIRT'S  LIFE  of 

The  debates  and  proceedings  of  this  Convention,  by  Mr.  Da 
vid  Robertson,  of  Petersburg!*,  have  passed  through  two  editions; 
yet  it  is  believed  that  their  circulation  has  been  principally  con 
fined  to  Virginia;  and  even  in  this  state,  from  the  rapid  progress 
of  our  population,  that  book  is  supposed  to  be  in,  comparatively, 
few  hands.  Hence  it  has  been  thought  proper  to  give  a  short 
sketch  of  Mr.  Henry's  course  in  this  body.  It  ought  to  be  pre 
mised,  however,  that  the  published  debates  have  been  said,  by 
those  who  attended  the  convention,  to  present  but  an  imperfect 
view  of  the  discussion  of  that  body.  In  relation  to  Mr.  Henry, 
they  are  confessedly  imperfect;  the  reporter  having  sometimes 
dropped  him  in  those  passages  in  which  the  reader  would  be 
most  anxious  to  follow  him. 

From  the  skill  and  ability  of  the  reporter,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  the  substance  of  the  debates,  as  well  as  their  general 
course,  are  accurately  preserved.  The  work  is,  therefore,  a 
valuable  repository  of  the  arguments  by  which  the  constitution 
was  opposed  on  one  hand,  and  supported  on  the  other;  but  it 
must  have  been  utterly  impossible  for  a  man  who  possesses  the 
sensibility  and  high  relish  for  eloquence  which  distinguish  the 
reporter,  not  to  have  been  so  far  transported  by  the  excursions 
of  Mr.  Henry's  genius,  as  sometimes,  unconsciously,  to  have 
laid  down  his  pen. 

It  was  not  until  the  fourth,  that  the  preliminary  arrangements 
for  the  discussion  were  settled.  Mr.  Pendleton  had  been  unan 
imously  elected  the  president  of  the  convention  ;  but  it  having 
been  determined  that  the  subject  should  be  debated  in  committee 
of  the  whole,  the  house  on  that  day  resolved  itself  into  commit 
tee,  and  the  venerable  Mr.  Wythe  was  called  to  the  chair.  In 
conformity  with  the  order  which  had  been  taken,  to  discuss  the 
constitution,  clause  by  clause,  the  clerk  now  read  the  preamble, 
and  the  two  first  sections ;  and  the  debate  was  opened  by  Mr. 
George  Nicholas. 

He  confined  himself  strictly  to  the  sections  under  considera 
tion,  and  maintained  their  policy  with  great  cogency  of  argu 
ment.  Mr.  Henry  rose  next,  and  soon  demonstrated  that  his 
excursions  were  not  to  be  restrained  by  the  rigour  of  rules. 
Instead  of  proceeding  to  answer  Mr.  Nicholas,  he  commenced 
by  sounding  an  alarm  calculated  to  produce  a  most  powerful 
impression.  The  effect,  however,  will  be  entirely  lost  upon  the 
reader,  unless  he  shall  associate  with  the  speech  which  I  am 
about  to  lay  before  him,  that  awful  solemnity  and  look  of  fear 
ful  portent,  by  which  Mr.  Henry  could  imply  even  more  than 
lie  expressed;  and  that  slow,  distinct,  emphatic  enunciation,  by 
which  he  never  failed  to  move  the  souls  of  his  hearers. 

"MR,  CHAIRMAN:  The  public  mind,  as  well  as  my  own,  is 


PATRICK    HENRY.  189 

extremely  uneasy  at  the  proposed  change  of  government.  Give 
me  leave  to  form  one  of  the  number  of  those  who  wish  to  be 
thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  reasons  of  this  perilous  and  un 
easy  situation — and  why  we  are  brought  hither  to  decide  on  this 
great  national  question.  I  consider  myself  as  the  servant  of 
the  people  of  this  commonwealth — as  a  sentinel  over  their  rights, 
liberty,  and  happiness.  I  represent  their  feelings  when  I  say, 
that  they  are  exceedingly  uneasy,  being  brought  from  that  state 
of  full  security  which  they  enjoyed,  to  the  present  delusive  ap 
pearance  of  thing's. 

"A  year  ago,  the  minds  of  our  citizens  were  at  perfect  repose. 
Before  the  meeting  of  the  late  federal  convention  at  Philadel 
phia,  a  general  peace  and  a  universal  tranquillity  prevailed  in 
this  country — but  since  that  period,  they  are  exceedingly  uneasy 
and  disquieted.  When  I  wished  for  an  appointment  to  this 
convention,  my  mind  was  extremely  agitated  for  the  situation 
of  public  affairs.  I  conceive  the  republic  to  be  in  extreme 
danger. 

"If  our  situation  be  thus  uneasy,  whence  has  arisen  this  fear 
ful  jeopardy?  It  arises  from  this  fatal  system — it  arises  from  a 
proposal  to  change  our  government — a  proposal  that  goes  to  the 
utter  annihilation  of  the  most  solemn  engagements  of  the  states 
— a  proposal  of  establishing  nine  states  into  confederacy,  to  the 
eventual  exclusion  of  four  states.  It  goes  to  the  annihilation  of 
those  solemn  treaties  we  have  formed  with  foreign  nations.  The 
present  circumstances  of  France — the  good  offices  rendered  us 
by  that  kingdom,  require  our  most  faithful  and  most  punctual 
adherence  to  our  treaty  with  her. 

"We  are  in  alliance  with  the  Spaniards,  the  Dutch,  the  Prus 
sians:  those  treaties  bound  us  as  thirteen  states,  confederated 
together.  Yet  here  is  a  proposal  to  sever  that  confederacy.  Is 
it  possible  that  we  shall  abandon  all  our  treaties  and  national 
engagements?  And  for  what?  I  expected  to  have  heard  the 
reasons  of  an  event,  so  unexpected  to  my  mind  and  many  others. 
Was  our  civil  polity  or  public  justice  endangered  or  sapped? 
Was  the  real  existence  of  the  country  threatened — or  was  this 
preceded  by  a  mournful  progression  of  events? 

"This  proposal  of  altering  our  federal  government  is  of  a 
most  alarming  nature.  Make  the  best  of  this  new  government 
— say  it  is  composed  by  anything  but  inspiration — you  ought  to 
be  extremely  cautious,  watchful,  jealous  of  your  liberty;  for  in 
stead  of  securing  our  rights,  you  may  lose  them  for  ever.  If  a 
wrong  step  be  now  made,  the  republic  maybe  lost  forever.  If 
this  new  government  will  not  come  up  to  the  expectation  of  the 
people,  and  they  should  be  disappointed,  their  liberty  will  be 
lost,  and  tvrannv  must  and  will  arise. 


190  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 


"I  repeat  it  again,  and  I  beg-  gentlemen  to  consider,  that  a 
wrong  step  made  now,  will  plunge  us  into  misery,  and  our  re 
public  will  be  lost.  It  w:ll  be  necessary  for  this  convention  to 
have  a  faithful  historical  detail  of  the  facts  that  preceded  the 
session  of  the  federal  convention,  and  the  reason  that  actuated 
its  members  in  proposing  an  entire  alteration  of  government, 
and  to  demonstrate  the  dangers  that  awaited  us:  if  they  were  of 
such  awful  magnitude,  as  to  warrant  a  proposal  so  extremely 
perilous  as  this,  I  must  assert,  that  this  convention  has  an  abso 
lute  right  to  a  thorough  discovery  of  every  circumstance  rela 
tive  to  this  great  event. 

"And  here  I  would  make  this  inquiry  of  those  worthy  char 
acters  who  composed  a  part  of  the  late  federal  convention.  I 
am  sure  they  were  fully  impressed  with  the  necessity  of  form 
ing  a  great  consolidated  government,  instead  of  a  confederation. 
That  this  is  a  consolidated  government  is  demonstrably  clear; 
and  the  danger  of  such  a  government  is  to  my  mind  very  stri 
king.  I  have  the  highest  veneration  for  those  gentlemen:  but, 
sir,  give  me  leave  to  demand,  what  right  had  they  to  say,  ice, 
the  people  ? 

"My  political  curiosity,  exclusive  of  my  anxious  solicitude 
for  the  public  welfare,  leads  me  to  ask,  who  authorized  them  to 
speak  the  language  of,  we,  the  people,  instead  of,  we,  the  states? 
States  are  the  characteristics,  and  the  soul  of  a  confederation. 
If  the  states  be  not  the  agents  of  this  compact,  it  must  be  one 
great,  consolidated,  national  government  of  the  people  of  all 
the  states.  I  have  the  highest  respect  for  those  gentlemen  who 
formed  the  convention;  and  were  some  of  them  not  here,  I 
would  express  some  testimonial  of  esteem  for  them. 

"America  had,  on  a  former  occasion,  put  the  utmost  confi 
dence  in  them;  a  confidence  which  was  well-placed;  and  I  am 
sure,  sir,  I  would  give  up  anything  to  them  :  I  would  cheerfully 
confide  in  them  as  my  representatives.  But,  sir,  on  this  great 
occasion,  I  would  demand  the  cause  of  their  conduct.  Even 
from  that  illustrious  man,  who  saved  us  by  his  valour,  I  would 
have  a  reason  for  his  conduct — that  liberty  which  he  has  given 
us  by  his  valour,  tells  me  to  ask  this  reason — and  sure  I  am, 
were  he  here,  he  would  give  us  that  reason:  but  there  are  other 
gentlemen  here  who  can  give  us  this  information.  The  people 
gave  them  no  power  to  use  their  name.  That  they  exceeded 
their  power  is  perfectly  elf  ar. 

"It  is  not  mere  curiosity  that  actuates  me — I  wish  to  hear  the 
real,  actual,  existing  danger,  which  should  lead  us  to  take  those 
steps  so  dangerous  in  my  conception.  Disorders  have  arisen  in 
other  parts  of  America;  but  here,  sir,  no  dangers,  no  insurrec 
tion,  or  tumult,  has  happened — everything  has  been  calm  and 


PATRICK    HENRY.  191 

tranquil.  But,  notwithstanding  this,  we  are  wandering  on  the 
great  ocean  of  human  affairs.  I  sec  no  landmark  to  guide  us. 
H'e  are  running  ice  know  not  whither. 

"Difference  in  opinion  has  gone  to  a  degree  of  inflammatory 
resentment,  in  different  parts  of  the  country,  which  has  been 
occasioned  by  this  perilous  innovation.  The  federal  convention 
ought  to  have  amended  the  old  system — for  this  purpose  they 
were  solely  delegated:  the  object  of  their  mission  extended  to 
no  other  consideration.  You  must  therefore  forgive  the  solicit 
ation  of  one  unworthy  member,  to  know  what  danger  could 
have  arisen  under  the  present  confederation,  and  what  are  the 
causes  of  this  proposal  to  change  our  government?" 

This  inquiry  was  answered  by  an  eloquent  speech  from  Mr. 
Randolph;  and  the  debate  passed  into  other  hands;  until  on  the 
next  day,  Genera]  Lee,  in  reference  to  Mr.  Henry's  opening 
speech,  addressed  the  chair,  as  follows: — 

"MR.  CHAIRMAN:  I  feel  every  power  of  my  mind  moved  by 
the  language  of  the  honourable  gentleman,  yesterday.  The 
eclat  and  brilliancy  which  have  distinguished  that  gentleman, 
the  honours  with  which  he  has  been  dignified,  and  the  brilliant 
talents  which  he  has  so  often  displayed,  have  attracted  my  re 
spect  and  attention.  On  so  important  an  occasion,  and  before  so 
respectable  a  body,  I  expected  a  new  display  of  his  powers  of 
oratory:  but,  instead  of  proceeding  to  investigate  the  merits  of 
the  new  plan  of  government,  the  worthy  character  informed  us 
of  horrors  which  he  felt,  of  apprehensions  in  his  mind,  which 
made  him  tremblingly  fearful  of  the  fate  of  the  commonwealth. 

"Mn.  CHAIRMAN  :  Was  it  proper  to  appeal  to  the  fear  of  this 
house?  The  question  before  us  belongs  to  the  judgment  of  this 
house;  I  trust  he  is  come  to  judge  and  not  to  alarm.  I  trust 
that  he,  and  every  other  gentleman  in  this  house,  comes  with  a 
firm  resolution,  coolly  and  calmly  to  examine,  and  fairly  and 
impartially  to  determine." 

In  the  further  progress  of  his  speech,  General  Lee  again  said, 
rather  tauntingly,  of  Mr.  Henry — "The  gentleman  sat  down  as 
he  began,  leaving  us  to  ruminate  on  the  horrors  with  which  he 
opened." 

Mr.  Henry,  rising  immediately  after  these  sarcastic  remarkst 
gave  a  striking  specimen  of  that  dignified  self-command,  and 
that  strict  and  uniform  decorum,  by  which  he  was  so  pre-emi 
nently  distinguished  in  debate.  Far  from  retorting  the  sarcasms 
of  his  adversary,  he  seemed  to  have  heard  nothing  but  the  com 
pliments  with  which  they  stood  connected,  and  rising  slowly 
from  his  seat,  with  a  countenance  expressive  of  unaffected  hu 
mility,  he  began  with  the  following  modest  and  disqualifying 
exordium : — 


192  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

"MR.  CHAIRMAN:  I  am  much  obliged  to  the  very  worthy 
gentleman  for  his  encomium.  I  wish  I  was  possessed  of  talents, 
or  possessed  of  anything,  that  might  enable  me  to  elucidate  this 
great  subject.  I  own,  sir,  I  am  not  free  from  suspicion.  I  am 
apt  to  entertain  doubts.  I  rose,  on  yesterday,  not  to  enter  upon 
the  discussion,  but  merely  to  ask  a  question  which  had  arisen  in 
my  own  mind.  When  I  asked  that  question,  I  thought  the 
meaning  of  my  interrogation  was  obvious.  The  fate  of  America 
may  depend  on  this  question. 

"Have  they  said,  we,  the  states?  Have  they  made  a  propo 
sal  of  a  compact  between  states?  If  they  had,  this  would  be  a 
confederation;  it  is,  otherwise,  mo,st  clearly,  a  consolidated 
government.  The  whole  question  turns,  sir,  on  that  poor  little 
thing,  the  expression,  we,  the  people,  instead  of,  the  states  of 
America." 

He  then  proceeded  to  set  forth,  in  terrible  array,  his  various 
objections  to  the  constitution;  not  confining  himself  to  the 
clauses  under  debate,  but  ranging  through  the  whole  instrument, 
and  passing  from  objection  to  objection,  as  they  followed  each 
other  in  his  mind.  This  departure  from  the  rule  of  the  house, 
although  at  first  view  censurable,  was  insisted  upon  by  himself 
and  his  colleagues,  as  being  indispensable  to  a  just  examination 
of  the  particular  clause  under  consideration;  because  the  policy 
or  impolicy  of  any  provision  did  not  always  depend  upon  itself 
alone,  but  on  other  provisions  with  which  it  stood  connected, 
and,  indeed,  upon  the  whole  system  of  powers  and  checks  that 
were  associated  with  it  in  the  same  instrument,  and  thus  formed 
only  parts  of  one  entire  whole. 

The  truth  of  this  position,  in  relation  to  some  of  the  provi 
sions,  could  not  be  justly  denied;  and  a  departure  once  made 
from  the  rigour  of  the  rule,  the  debate  became  at  large,  on  ev 
ery  part  of  the  constitution;  the  disputants  at  every  stage  look 
ing  forward  and  backward  throughout  the  whole  instrument, 
without  any  control  other  than  their  own  discretion.     Tl  ius 
freed  from  restraints,  under  which  his  genius  was  at  all  ti  mes 
impatient,  uncoupled  and  let  loose  to  range  the  whole  fi^ld  at 
pleasure,  Mr.  Henry  seemed  to  have  recovered,  and  to  luxuriate 
in  all  the  powers  of  his  youth.     He  had,  indeed,  octias'/on  for 
them  all;  for  while  he  was  supported  by  only  thrp;e  <>lFective 
auxiliaries,  opposed  to  him  stood  a  phalanx,  most   formidable 
both  for  talents  and  weight  of  character;  and  several   of  whom 
it  might  be  said,  with  truth,  that  each  was  "m  him, self  a  host ;" 
for  at  the  head  of  the  opposing  ranks  stood  Mr.  VemMeton,  Mr. 
Wythe,  Mr.  Madison,  Mr.  Marshall,  Mr.  Nicholas, ,  Mr.  Ran 
dolph,  Mr.  Innis,  Mr.  Henry  Lee,  and  Mr.  Gorbi  n.     Foarful 
odds!  and  such  as  called  upon  him  for  the  most  st:  renuous  ex 
ertion  of  all  his  faculties. 


PATRICK    HENRY.  193 

Nor  did  he  sink  below  the  occasion.  For  twenty  days,  dur 
ing  which  this  great  discussion  continued  without  intermission, 
his  efforts  were  sustained,  not  only  with  undiminished  strength, 
but  with  powers  which  seemed  to  gather  new  force  from  every 
excrtion.  All  the  faculties  useful  for  debate  were  found  united 
in  him,  with  a  degree  of  perfection,  in  which  they  are  rarely 
seen  to  exist,  even  separately,  in  different  individuals:  irony, 
ridicule,  the  purest  wit,  the  most  comic  humour,  exclamations 
that  made  the  soul  start,  the  most  affecting  pathos,  and  the  most 
sublime  apostrophes,  lent  their  aid  to  enforce  his  reasoning,  and 
to  put  to  flight  the  arguments  of  his  adversaries. 

The  objection  that  the  constitution  substituted  a  consolidated 
in  lieu  of  a  confederated  government,  and  that  this  new  consol 
idated  government  threatened  the  total  annihilation  of  the  state 
sovereignties,  was  pressed  by  him  with  most  masterly  power: 
he  said  there  was  no  necessity  for  a  change  of  government  so 
entire  and  fundamental — and  no  inducement  to  it,  unless  it  was 
to  be  found  in  this  splendid  government,  which  we  were  told 
was  to  make  us  a  great  and  mighty  people. 

"We  have  no  detail,"  said  he,  "of  those  great  considerations, 
which,  in  my  opinion,  ought  to  have  abounded,  before  we  should 
recur  to  a  government  of  this  kind.  Here  is  a  revolution  as 
radical  as  that  which  separated  us  from  Great  Britain.  It  is  as 
radical,  if  iti  this  transition  our  rights  and  privileges  are  endan 
gered,  and  the  sovereignty  of  the  states  be  relinquished:  and 
cannot  we  plainly  see,  that  this  is  actually  the  case?  The  rights 
of  conscience,  trial  by  jury,  liberty  of  the  press,  all  your  immu 
nities  and  franchises,  all  pretensions  to  human  rights  and  privi 
leges,  are  rendered  insecure,  if  not  lost,  by  this  change  so  loudly 
talked  of  by  some,  and  so  inconsiderately  by  others.  Is  this 
tame  relinquishment  of  rights  worthy  of  freemen?  Is  it  wor 
thy  of  that  manly  fortitude  that  ought  to  characterize  repub 
licans? 

"It  is  said  eight  states  have  adopted  this  plan  :  I  declare,  that 
if  twelve  states  and  a  half  had  adopted  it,  I  would  with  manly 
firmness,  and  in  spite  of  an  erring  world,  reject  it.  You  are 
not  to  inquire  how  your  trade  may  be  increased,  nor  how  you 
are  to  become  a  great  and  powerful  people,  but  how  your  lib 
erties  can  be  secured;  for  liberty  ought  to  be  the  direct  end  of 
your  government.  Is  it  necessary  for  your  liberty,  that  you 
should  abandon  those  great  rights  by  the  adoption  of  this  sys 
tem?  Is  the  relinquishment  of  the  trial  by  jury,  and  the  liberty 
of  the  press,  necessary  for  your  liberty  ?  Will  the  abandonment 
of  your  most  sacred  rights  tend  to  the  security  of  your  liberty? 
Liberty,  the  greatest  of  all  earthly  blessings — give  us  that  pre 
vious  jewel,  and  you  may  take  everything  else ! 


194  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

"But  I  am  fearful  I  have  lived  long  enough  to  become  an  old- 
fashioned  fellow.  Perhaps  an  invincible  attachment  to  the  dear 
est  rights  of  man,  may,  in  these  refined,  enlightened  days,  be 
deemed  old-fashioned :  if  so,  I  am  contented  to  be  so:  I  say,  the 
time  has  been,  when  every  pulse  of  my  heart  beat  for  American 
liberty,  and  which,  I  believe,  had  a  counterpart  in  the  breast  of 
every  true  American ;  but  suspicions  have  gone  forth — suspicions 
of  my  integrity — publicly  reported  that  my  professions  are  not 
real — twenty-three  years  ago  was  I  supposed  a  traitor  to  my 
country:  I  was  then  said  to  be  a  bane  of  sedition  because  I  sup 
ported  the  rights  of  my  country:  I  maybe  thought  suspicious, 
when  I  say  our  privileges  and  rights  are  in  danger:  but,  sir,  a 
number  of  the  people  of  this  country  are  weak  enough  to  think 
these  things  are  too  true. 

"I  am  happy  to  find,  that  the  gentleman  on  the  other  side  de 
clares  they  are  groundless :  but,  sir,  suspicion  is  a  virtue,  as  long- 
as  its  object  is  the  preservation  of  the  public  good,  and  as  long 
as  it  stays  within  proper  bounds:  should  it  fall  on  me,  I  am  con 
tented;  conscious  rectitude  is  a  powerful  consolation:  I  trust 
there  are  many  who  think  my  professions  for  the  public  good  to 
be  real.  Let  your  suspicion  look  to  both  sides :  there  are  many 
on  the  other  side,  who  possibly  may  have  been  persuaded  of  the 
necessity  of  these  measures,  which  I  conceive  to  be  dangerous 
to  your  liberty. 

"Guard  with  jealous  attention  the  public  liberty.  Suspect 
every  one  who  approaches  that  jewel.  Unfortunately,  nothing' 
will  preserve  it  but  downright  force:  whenever  you  give  up  that 
force,  you  are  inevitably  ruined.  I  am  answered  by  gentlemen, 
that  though  I  might  speak  of  terrors,  yet  the  fact  was,  that  we 
were  surrounded  by  none  of  the  dangers  I  apprehended.  I  con 
ceive  this  new  government  to  be  one  of  those  dangers:  it  has 
produced  those  horrors  which  distress  many  of  our  best  citizens. 
We  are  come  hither  to  preserve  the  poor  commonwealth  of  Vir 
ginia,  if  it  can  be  possibly  done:  something  must  be  done  to 
preserve  your  liberty  and  mine. 

"The  confederation,  this  same  despised  government,  merits, 
in  my  opinion,  the  highest  encomium:  it  carried  us  through  a 
long  and  dangerous  war :  it  rendered  us  victorious  in  that  bloody 
conflict  with  a  powerful  nation:  it  has  secured  us  a  territory 
greater  than  any  European  monarch  possesses :  and  shall  a  gov 
ernment  which  has  been  thus  strong  and  vigorous,  be  accused 
of  imbecility,  and  abandoned  for  want  of  energy?  Consider 
what  you  are  about  to  do,  before  you  part  with  this  government. 
Take  longer  time  in  reckoning  things ;  revolutions  like  this  have 
happened  in  almost  every  country  of  Europe:  similar  examples 
are  to  be  found  in  ancient  Greece  and  ancient  Rome :  instances 


PATRICK    HENRY.  195 

of  the  people  losing  their  liberty  by  their  own  carelessness  and 
the  ambition  of  a  few. 

"We  are  cautioned,  by  the  honourable  gentleman  who  pre 
sides,  against  faction  and  turbulence:  I  acknowledge  that  licen 
tiousness  is  dangerous,  and  that  it  ought  to  be  provided  against: 
I  acknowledge,  also,  the  new  form  of  government  may  effectu 
ally  prevent  it:  yet  there  is  another  thing  it  will  as  effectually 
do — it  will  oppress  and  ruin  the  people.  There  are  sufficient 
guards  placed  against  faction  and  licentiousness :  for  when  power 
is  given  to  this  government  to  suppress  these,  or  for  any  other 
purpose,  the  language  it  assumes  is  clear,  express,  and  unequiv 
ocal:  but  when  this  constitution  speaks  of  privileges,  there  is 
an  ambiguity,  sir,  a  fatal  ambiguity,  an  ambiguity  which  is 
very  astonishing!" 

The  adoption  of  the  instrument  had  been  maintained  upon 
the  ground  that  it  would  increase  our  military  strength,  and  en 
able  us  to  resist  the  lawless  ambition  of  foreign  princes:  it  had 
been  urged,  too,  that  if  the  convention  should  rise  without  adopt 
ing  the  instrument,  disunion  and  anarchy  would  be  the  certain 
consequences.  In  answer  to  these  topics  he  said: — 

"Happy  will  you  be,  if  you  miss  the  fate  of  those  nations, 
who,  omitting  to  resist  their  oppressors,  or  negligently  suffering 
their  liberty  to  be  wrested  from  them,  have  groaned  under  in 
tolerable  despotism!  Most  of  the  human  race  are  now  in  this 
deplorable  condition.  And  those  nations  who  have  gone  in 
search  of  grandeur,  power,  and  splendour,  have  also  fallen  a 
sacrifice,  and  been  the  victims  of  their  own  folly.  While  they 
acquired  those  visionary  blessings,  they  lost  their  freedom. 

"My  great  objection  to  this  government  is,  that  it  does  not 
leave  us  the  means  of  defending  our  rights,  or  of  waging  war 
against  tyrants.  It  is  urged  by  some  gentlemen,  that  this  new 
plan  will  bring  us  an  acquisition  of  strength,  an  army,  and  the 
militia  of  the  slates.  This  is  an  idea  extremely  ridiculous: 
gentlemen  cannot  be  in  earnest.  Tliis  acquisition  will  trample 
on  your  fallen  liberty!  Let  my  beloved  Americans  guard 
against  that  fatal  lethargy  that  has  pervaded  the  universe.  Have 
we  the  means  of  resisting  disciplined  armies,  when  our  only  de 
fence,  the  militia,  is  put  into  the  hands  of  congress? 

"The  honourable  gentleman  said,  that  great  danger  would 
ensue,  if  the  convention  rose  without  adopting  this  system.  I 
ask.  where  is  that  danger?  I  see  none.  Other  gentlemen  have 
told  us  within  these  walls,  that  the  union  is  gone — or,  that  the 
union  will  be  gone.  Is  not  this  trifling  with  the  judgment  of 
their  fellow-citizens?  Till  they  tell  us  the  ground  of  their  fears, 
I  will  consider  them  as  imaginary.  I  rose  to  make  inquiry 
where  those  dangers  were;  they  could  make  no  answer:  I  bet 
Jieve  I  never  shall  have  that  answer. 


196 

"Is  there  a  disposition  in  the  people  of  this  country  to  revolt 
against  the  dominion  of  laws?  Has  there  been  a  single  tumult 
in  Virginia?  Have  not  the  people  of  Virginia,  when  labouring 
under  the  severest  pressure  of  accumulated  distresses,  mani 
fested  the  most  cordial  acquiescence  in  the  execution  of  the 
laws?  What  could  be  more  lawful  than  their  unanimous  acqui 
escence  under  general  distresses?  Is  there  any  revolution  in 
Virginia?  Whither  is  the  spirit  of  America  gone?  Whither 
is  the  genius  of  America  fled  ?  It  was  but  yesterday  when  our 
enemies  marched  in  triumph  through  our  country.  Yet  tht: 
people  of  this  country  could  not  be  appalled  by  their  pompous 
armaments :  they  stopped  their  career,  and  victoriously  cap 
tured  them!  Where  is  the  peril  now  compared  to  that? 

"Some  minds  are  agitated  by  foreign  alarms.  Happily  for 
us,  there  is  no  real  danger  from  Europe :  that  country  is  engaged 
in  more  arduous  business:  from  that  quarter  there  is  no  cause 
of  fear:  you  may  sleep  in  safety  for  ever  for  them.  Where  is 
the  danger?  If  sir,  there  was  any,  I  would  recur  to  the  Amer 
ican  spirit  to  defend  us — that  spirit  which  has  enabled  us  to  sur 
mount  the  greatest  difficulties:  to  that  illustrious  spirit  I  address 
my  most  fervent  prayer,  to  prevent  our  adopting  a  system  de 
structive  to  liberty. 

"Let  not  gentlemen  be  told  that  it  is  not  safe  to  reject  this 
government.  Wherefore  is  it  not  safe?  We  are  told  there  are 
dangers;  but  those  dangers  are  ideal;  they  cannot  be  demon 
strated.  To  encourage  us  to  adopt  it,  they  tell  us  that  there  is 
a  plain,  easy  way  of  getting  amendments.  When  I  come  to 
contemplate  this  part,  I  suppose  that  I  am  mad,  or,  that  my 
countrymen  are  so.  The  way  to  amendment  is,  in  my  concep 
tion,  shut.  Let  us  consider  this  plain,  easy  way." 

He  then  proceeds  to  demonstrate,  that  as  the  constitution  re 
quired  the  concurrence  of  three  fourths  of  the  states  to  any 
amendment,  it  followed  that  six  tenths  of  the  people,  in  four  of 
the  smallest  states,  (not  containing  collectively  one-tenth  part  of 
the  population  of  the  United  States,)  would  have  it  in  their 
power  to  defeat  the  most  salutary  amendments;  and  then  asks, 
"Is  this,  sir,  an  easy  mode  of  securing  the  public  liberty?  It 
is,  sir,  a  most  fearful  situation,  when  the  most  contemptible  mi 
nority  can  prevent  the  alteration  of  the  most  oppressive  govern 
ment:  for  it  may,  in  many  respects,  prove  to  be  such.  Is  this 
the  spirit  of  republicanism?  What,  sir,  is  the  genius  of  de 
mocracy?  Let  me  read  that  clause  of  the  bill  of  rights  of  Vir 
ginia,  which  relates  to  this : — 

"'Third  Article.  That  government  is,  or  ought  to  be,  insti 
tuted  for  the  common  benefit,  protection,  and  security  of  the 
people,  nation,  or  community;  of  all  the  various  modes  and 


PATRICK    HENRY.  197 

forms  of  government,  that  is  best  which  is  capable  of  producing 
the  greatest  degree  of  happiness  and  safety,  and  is  most  effectu 
ally  secured  against  the  danger  of  mal-administration ;  and  that 
.whenever  any  government  shall  be  found  inadequate,  or  con 
trary  to  these  purposes,  a  majority  of  the  community  hath  an 
indubitable,  unalienable,  and  indefeasible  right  to  reform,  alter, 
or  abolish  it,  in  such  manner  as  shall  be  judged  most  conducive 
to  the  public  weal.' 

"This,  sir,  is  the  language  of  democracy,  that  a  majority  of 
the  community  have  a  right  to  alter  their  government  when 
found  to  be  oppressive;  but  how  different  is  the  genius  of  your 
new  constitution  from  this?  How  different  from  the  sentiments 
of  freemen,  that  a  contemptible  minority  can  prevent  the  good 
of  the  majority?  If,  then,  gentlemen,  standing  on  this  ground, 
are  come  to  that  point,  that  they  are  willing  to  bind  themselves 
and  their  posterity  to  be  oppressed,  /  am  amazed,  and  inex 
pressibly  astonished! 

"If  this  be  the  opinion  of  the  majority,  I  must  submit;  but 
to  me,  sir,  it  appears  perilous  and  destructive;  I  cannot  help 
thinking  so;  perhaps  it  may  be  the  result  of  my  age;  these  may 
be  feelings  natural  to  a  man  of  my  years,  when  the  American 
spirit  has  left  him,  and  his  mental  powers,  like  the  members  of 
the  body,  are  decayed.  If,  sir,  amendments  are  left  to  the  twen 
tieth,  or  to  the  tenth  part  of  the  people  of  America,  your  liberty 
is  gone  for  ever. 

"We  have  heard  that  there  is  a  great  deal  of  bribery  practised 
in  the  house  of  commons  in  England;  and  that  many  of  the 
members  raised  themselves  to  preferments  by  selling  the  rights 
of  the  people.  But,  sir,  the  tenth  part  of  that  body  cannot  con 
tinue  oppressions  on  the  rest  of  the  people.  English  liberty  is, 
in  this  case,  on  a  firmer  foundation  than  American  liberty.  It 
will  be  easily  contrived  to  procure  the  opposition  of  one  tenth 
of  the  people  to  any  alteration,  however  judicious." 

Mr.  Pendleton  had  repelled  the  idea  of  danger  from  the 
adoption  of  the  constitution,  on  the  ground  of  the  facility 
with  which  the  people  could  recall  their  delegated  powers,  and 
change  their  servants.  "We  will  assemble  in  convention," 
said  Mr.  Pendleton,  "  wholly  recall  our  delegated  powers,  or 
reform  them  so  as  to  prevent  such  abuse,  and  punish  our  serv 
ants."  In  reply  to  this,  Mr.  Henry  said : — "  The  honourable 
gentleman  who  presides  told  us,  that,  to  prevent  abuses  in  our 
government,  we  will  assemble  in  convention,  recall  our  dele 
gated  powers,  and  punish  our  servants  for  abusing  the  trust  re 
posed  in  them.  Oh,  sir,  we  should  have  fine  times,  indeed,  if 
to  punish  tyrants,  it  were  only  necessary  to  assemble  the  peo 
ple  !  Your  arms  wherewith  you  could  defend  yourselves,  are 
17* 


198  WIRT'S  LIFK  OF 

gone!  and  you  have  no  longer  an  aristocratical,  no  longer  a 
democratical  spirit.  Did  you  ever  read  of  any  revolution  in 
any  nation,  brought  about  by  the  punishment  of  those  in  power, 
inflicted  by  those  who  had  710  power  at  all  ?  You  read  of  a 
riot  act  in  a  country  which  is  called. one  of  the  freest  in  the 
world,  where  a  few  neighbours  cannot  assemble,  without  the 
risk  of  being  shot  by  a  hired  soldiery,  the  engines  of  despo 
tism. 

"  We  may  see  such  an  act  in  America.  A  standing  army 
we  shall  have  also,  to  execute  the  execrable  commands  of  ty 
ranny  ;  and  how  are  you  to  punish  them  ?  Will  you  order 
them  to  be  punished  ?  Who  shall  obey  these  orders  ?  Will 
your  mace-bearer  be  a  match  for  a  disciplined  regiment?  In 
what  situation  are  we  to  be  ?  The  clause  before  you  gives  a 
power  of  direct  taxation,  unbounded  and  unlimited  ;  exclusive 
power  of  legislation,  in  all  cases  whatsoever,  for  ten  miles 
square  ;  and  over  all  places  purchased  for  the  erection  of  forts, 
magazines,  arsenals,  dock-yards,  <fyc.  What  resistance  could 
be  made  ?  The  attempt  would  be  madness.  You  will  find  all 
the  strength  of  this  country  in  the  hands  of  your  enemies  ; 
those  garrisons  will  naturally  be  the  strongest  places  in  the 
country.  Your  militia  is  given  up  to  congress,  also,  in  another 
part  of  this  plan  ;  they  will  therefore  act  as  they  think  proper ; 
all  power  will  be  in  their  own  possession  ;  you  cannot  force 
them  to  receive  their  punishment." 

He  continued  to  ridicule,  very  successfully,  the  alluring  idea 
of  the  expected  splendour  of  the  new  government,  and  the 
imaginany  checks  and  balances  which  were  said  to  exist  in  this 
constitution:  "If  we  admit,"  said  he,  "this  consolidated  gov 
ernment,  it  will  be  because  we  like  a  great  splendid  one. 
Some  way  or  other  we  must  be  a  great  and  mighty  empire ; 
we  must  hate  an  army,  and  a  navy,  and  a  number  of  things  ! 
When  the  American  spirit  was  in  its  youth,  the  language  of 
America  was  different:  liberty,  sir,  was  then  the  primary  o&- 
ject"  And  again  :  "This  constitution  is  said  to  have  beauti 
ful  features  ;  when  I  come  to  examine  these  features,  sir,  they 
appear  to  me  horribly  frightful !  Among  other  deformities,  it 
has  an  awful  squinting ;  it  squints  toward  monarchy !  And 
does  not  this  raise  indignation  in  the  heart  of  every  true  Amer 
ican? 

"Your  president  may  easily  become  king ;  your  senate  is  so 
imperfectly  constructed,  that  your  dearest  rights  may  be  sacri 
ficed  by  what  may  be  a  small  minority ;  and  a  very  small 
minority  may  continue,  for  ever,  unchangeable,  this  govern 
ment,  although  horridly  defective ;  where  are  your  checks  in 
this  government  ?  Your  strong  hold  will  be  in  the  hands  of 


PATRICK    HENRY.  199 

your  enemies ;  it  is  on  a  supposition  that  your  American  gov 
ernors  shall  be  honest,  that  all  the  good  qualities  of  this  gov 
ernment  are  founded  ;  but  its  defective  and  imperfect  construc 
tion  puts  it  in  their  power  to  perpetrate  the  worst  of  mischiefs, 
should  they  be  bad  men  ;  and,  sir,  would  not  all  the  world, 
from  the  eastern  to  the  western  hemisphere,  blame  our  dis 
tracted  folly  in  resting  our  rights  upon  the  contingency  of  our 
rulers  being  good  or  bad  ? 

"Show  me  that  age  and  country,  where  the  rights  and  lib 
erties  of  the  people  were  placed  on  the  sole  chance  of  their 
rulers  being  good  men,  without  a  consequent  loss  of  liberty? 
I  say,  that  the  loss  of  that  dearest  privilege  has  ever  followed, 
with  absolute  certainty,  every  such  mad  attempt.  If  your 
American  chief  be  a  man  of  ambition  and  abilities,  how  easy 
is  it  for  him  to  render  himself  absolute  !  The  army  is  in  his 
hands;  and  if  he  be  a  man  of  address,  it  will  be  attached  to 
him ;  and  it  will  be  the  subject  of  long  meditation  with  him 
to  seize  the  first  auspicious  moment  to  accomplish  his  design ; 
and,  sir,  will  the  American  spirit,  solely,  relieve  you  when  this 
happens  ? 

"  I  would  rather  infinitely,  and  I  am  sure  most  of  this  con 
vention  are  of  the  same  opinion,  have  a  king,  lords,  and  com 
mons,  than  a  government  so  replete  with  such  insupporta 
ble  evils.  If  we  make  a  king,  we  may  prescribe  the  rules  by 
which  he  shall  rule  his  people,  and  interpose  such  checks  as 
shall  prevent  him  from  infringing  them :  but  the  president  in 
the  field,  at  the  head  of  his  army,  can  prescribe  the  terms  on 
which  he  shall  reign  master,  so  far  that  it  will  puzzle  any 
American  ever  to  get  his  neck  from  under  the  Calling  yoke.  I 
cannot,  with  patience,  think  of  this  idea.  If  ever  he  violates 
the  laws,  one  of  two  things  will  happen :  he  will  come  at  the 
head  of  his  army  to  carry  everything  before  him  ;  or  he  will 
give  bail,  or  do  what  Mr.  Chief  Justice  will  order  him.  If  he 
be  guilty,  will  not  the  recollection  of  his  crimes  teach  him  to 
make  one  bold  push  for  the  American  throne?  Will  not  the 
immense  difference  between  being  master  of  everything,  and 
being  ignominiously  tried  and  punished,  powerfully  excite  him 
to  make  this  bold  push? 

"But,  sir,  where  is  the  existing  force  to  punish  him?  Can 
he  not,  at  the  head  of  his  army,  beat  down  every  opposition? 
Away  with  your  president;  we  shall  have  a  king:  the  army 
will  salute  him  monarch  ;  your  militia  will  leave  you,  and  as 
sist  in  making  him  king,  and  fight  against  you :  and  what  have 
you  to  oppose  this  force?  What  will  then  become  of  you  and 
your  rights  ?  Will  not  absolute  despotism  ensue?"  [Here  Mr. 
Henry  strongly  and  pathetically  expatiated  on  the  probability 

X 


200  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

of  the  president's  enslaving  America,  and   the  horrid  conse 
quences  that  must  result.] 

After  the  frank  admission  of  the  reporter,  exhibited  by  the 
words  contained  in  these  brackets,  that  he  had  not  attempted 
to  follow  Mr.  Henry  in  this  pathetic  excursion,  the  reader  will 
perceive,  that  it  would  be  doing  injustice  to  the  memory  of  that 
eminent  man,  to  multiply  extracts  from  this  book,  as  specimens 
of  his  eloquence.  The  stenographer  who  should  be  able  to 
take  down  Mr.  Henry's  speeches,  word  for  word,  must  have 
other  qualities  besides  the  perfect  mastery  of  his  art;  he  must 
have  the  perfect  mastery  of  himself,  and  be  able,  for  the  mo 
ment,  to  play  the  mere  automaton ;  for  without  such  self-com 
mand,  no  man,  who  had  a  human  heart  in  his  bosom,  could  lis 
ten  to  his  startling  exclamations,  or  horror-breathing  tones,  with 
out  keeping  his  eyes  immovably  riveted  upon  the  speaker.  His 
dominion  over  his  hearers  was  so  absolute,  that  it  was  idle  to 
think  of  resisting  him;  you  would  as  soon  think  of  resisting 
the  lightning  of  heaven. 

The  very  tone  of  voice  in  which  he  would  address  the 
chairman,  when  he  felt  the  inspiration  of  his  genius  ri 
sing — "Mr.  Chairman!" — and  the  awful  pause  which  fol 
lowed  this  call — fixed  upon  him  at  once  every  eye  in  the 
assembly  :  and  then  his  own  rapt  countenance  ! — those  ever 
which  seemed  to  beam  with  light  from  another  world,  and  un 
der  whose  fiery  glance  the  crest  of  the  proudest  adversary  fell ! 
his  majestic  attitudes,  and  that  bold,  strong,  and  varied  action, 
which  spoke  forth,  with  so  much  power,  the  energies  of  his 
own  great  spirit,  rendered  his  person  a  spectacle  so  sublime, 
and  so  awfully  interesting,  that  to  look  in  any  other  direction 
when  the  spell  was  upon  him  was  not  to  be  expected  from  any 
man  who  had  eyes  to  see  and  ears  to  hear.  Little  cause  have 
we,  therefore,  to  wonder  or  to  complain,  that  a  gentleman  of 
Mr.  Robertson's  lively  admiration  of  genius,  and  of  his  quick 
and  kindling  sensibility,  was  sometimes  bedimmed  by  his  own 
tears,  and  at  others  torn  from  his  task  by  those  master-flights, 
which  rushed  like  a  mighty  whirlwind  from  the  earth,  and  car 
ried  up  everything  in  their  vortex. 

The  chief  objections  taken  to  the  constitution  are  reducible 
to  the  following  heads  : — 

I.  That  it  was  a  consolidated,  instead  of  a  confederated  gov 
ernment  :  that  in  making  it  so,  the  delegates  at  Philadelphia 
had  transcended  the  limits  of  their  commission:  changed  fun 
damentally  the  relations  which  the  states  had  chosen  to  bear 
to  each  other:  annihilated  their  respective  sovereignties  :  de 
stroyed  the  barriers  which  divided  them  :  and  converted  the 
whole  into  one  solid  empire.  To  this  leading  objection,  al- 


PATRICK    HENRY.  201 

most  all  the  rest  had  reference,  and  were  urged  principally 
with  the  view  to  illustrate  and  enforce  it. 

2.  The  vast  and  alarming  array  of  specific  powers  given  to 
the  general  government,  and  the  wide  door  opened  for  an  un 
limited  extension  of  those  powers,  by  the  clause  which  author 
ized  congress  to  pass  all  laws  necessary  to  carry  the  given 
powers  into  effect.     It  was  urged  that  this  clause  rendered  the 
previous  specification  of  powers  an  idle  illusion  ;  since,  by  the 
force  of  construction  arising  from  that  clause,  congress  might 
easily  do   anything   and  everything  it  chose,  under  the  pre 
tence  of  giving  effect  to  some  specified  power. 

3.  The  unlimited  power  of  taxation  of  all  kinds :  the  states 
were  no  longer  to  be  required,  in  their  federative  characters, 
to  contribute  their  respective  proportions  toward  the  expenses 
and  engagements   of  the  general  government:    but  congress 
were  authorized  to  go  directly  to  the  pockets  of  the  people, 
and  to  sweep  from  them  en  masse,  from  north  to  south,  what 
ever  portion  of  the  earnings  of  the  industrious  poor  the  rapa 
city  of  the  general  government,  or  their  schemes  of  ambitious 
grandeur,  might  suggest. 

It  was  contended,  that  such  a  power  could  not  be  exercised, 
without  just  complaint,  over  a  country  so  extensive,  and  so 
diversified  in  its  productions  and  the  pursuits  of  its  people:  that 
it  was  impossible  to  select  any  subject  of  general  taxation  which 
would  not  operate  unequally  on  the  different  sections  of  the 
union,  produce  discontent  and  heart-burnings  among  the  people, 
and  most  probably  terminate  in  open  resistance  to  the  laws:  that 
the  representatives  in  congress  were  too  few  to  carry  with  them 
a  knowledge  of  the  wants  and  capacities  of  the  people  in  the 
different  parts  of  a  large  state,  and  that  the  representation  could 
not  be  made  full  enough  to  attain  that  object,  without  becoming 
oppressively  expensive  to  the  country:  that  hence  taxation 
ought  to  be  left  to  the  states  themselves,  whose  representation 
was  full,  who  best  knew  the  habits  and  circumstances  of  their 
constituents,  and  on  what  subjects  a  tax  could  be  most  conve 
niently  laid.  Mr.  Henry  said  that  he  was  willing  to  grant  this 
power  conditionally;  that  is,  upon  the  failure  of  the  states  to 
comply  with  requisitions  from  congress:  but  that  the  absolute 
and  unconditional  grant  of  it,  in  the  first  instance,  filled  his  mind 
with  the  most  awful  anticipations. 

It  was  resolved,  he  saw  clearly,  that  we  must  be  a  great  and 
splendid  people;  and  that  in  order  to  be  so,  immense  revenues 
must  be  raised  from  the  people:  the  people  were  to  be  bowed 
down  under  the  load  of  their  taxes,  direct  and  indirect;  and  a 
swarm  of  federal  tax-gatherers  were  to  cover  this  land,  to  blight 
every  blade  of  grass,  and  every  leaf  of  vegetation,  and  consume 


202 

its  productions  for  the  enrichment  of  themselves  and  their  mas 
ters:  it  was  riot  contended,  he  supposed,  but  that  the  state  leg 
islature,  also,  might  impose  taxes  for  their  own  internal  pur 
poses:  thus  the  people  were  to  be  doubly  oppressed,  and  be 
tween  the  state  sheriffs  and  the  federal  sheriffs  to  be  ground  to 
dust:  on  this  subject  he  drew  such  a  vivid  and  affecting  picture 
of  these  officers,  entering  in  succession  the  cabin  of  the  broken 
hearted  peasant,  and  the  last  one  rifling  the  poor  remains  which 
the  first  had  left  as  is  said  to  have  drawn  tears  from  every  eye. 

4.  The  power  of  raising  armies  and  building  navies,  and  still 
more  emphatically,  the  control  given  to  the  general  government 
over  the  militia  of  the  states,  was  most  strenuously  opposed. 
The  power  thus  given  was  a  part  of  the  means  of  that  aggran 
dizement  which  was  obviously  meditated,  and  there  could  be  no 
doubt  that  it  would  be  exercised:  so  that  this  republic,  whose 
best  policy  was  peace,  was  to  be  saddled  with  the  expense  of 
maintaining  standing  armies  and  navies,  useless  for  any  other 
purpose  than  to  insult  her  citizens,  to  afford  a  pretext  for  in 
creased  taxes,  and  an  augmented  public  debt,  and  finally  to  sub 
vert  the  liberties  of  her  people:  her  militia,  too,  her  last  remain 
ing  defence,  was  gone. 

"Congress,"  said  Mr.  Henry,  "by  the  power  of  taxation — 
by  that  of  raising  an  army  and  navy — and  by  their  control  over 
the  militia — have  the  sword  in  the  one  hand,  and  the  purse  in 
the  other.  Shall  we  be  safe  without  either?  Congress  have  an 
unlimited  power  over  both;  they  are  entirely  given  up  by  us. 
Let  him  (Mr.  Madison)  candidly  tell  me  where  and  when  did 
freedom  exist,  when  the  sword  and  purse  were  given  up  from 
the  people?  Unless  a  miracle  in  human  affairs  shall  interpose, 
no  nation  ever  did  or  ever  can  retain  its  liberty,  after  the  loss 
of  the  sword  and  the  .purse." 

The  unlimited  control  over  the  militia  was  vehemently  op 
posed,  on  the  ground,  that  the  marching  militia  from  distant 
states  to  quell  insurrection,  and  repel  invasions,  and  keeping  the 
free  yeomanry  of  the  country  under  the  lash  of  martial  law, 
would,  in  the  first  instance,  produce  an  effect  extremely  inimical 
to  the  peace  and  harmony  of  the  union;  and  in  the  next,  harass 
the  agricultural  body  of  the  people  so  much,  as  to  reconcile 
them,  as  a  less  evil,  to  that  curse  of  nations,  and  bane  of  free 
dom,  a  standing  army: — and  secondly,  this  power  was  opposed, 
on  the  ground  that  congress,  under  the  boundless  charter  of 
constructive  power  which  it  possessed,  might  transfer  to  the 
president  the  power  of  calling  forth  the  militia,  and  thus  enable 
him  to  disarm  all  opposition  to  his  schemes. 

5.  The  several  clauses  providing  for  the  federal  judiciary  were 
objected  to,  on  the  ground  of  the  clashing  jurisdictions  of  the 


PATRICK    HENRY.  203 

state  and  federal  courts;  and  secondly,  because  infinite  power 
was  given  to  congress  to  multiply  inferior  federal  courts  at  plea 
sure;  a  power  which  they  would  not  fail  to  exercise,  in  order 
to  swell  the  patronage  of  the  president,  to  their  own  emolument; 
and  thus  enable  him  to  reward  their  devotion  to  his  views,  by 
bestowing  on  them  and  their  dependants  those  offices  which  they 
had  themselves  created. 

6.  It  was  contended  that  the  trial  by  jury  was  gone  in  civil 
cases,  by  that  clause  which  gives  to  the  supreme  court  appellate 
power  over  the  law  and  the  fact  in  every  case;  and  which  there 
by  enabled  that  tribunal  to  annihilate  both  the  verdict  and  judg 
ment  of  the  inferior  courts:  and  that  in  criminal  cases  also,  the 
trial  by  jury  was  worse  than  gone,  because  it  was  admitted,  that 
the  common  law,  which  alone  gave  the  challenge  for  favour, 
would  not  be  in  force  as  to  the  federal  courts;  and  hence  a  jury 
might,  in  every  instance,  be  packed  to  suit  the  purpose  of  the 
prosecution. 

7.  The  authority  of  the  president  to  take  the  command  of  the 
armies  of  the  United  States,  in  person,  was  warmly  resisted,  on 
the  ground,  that  if  he  were  a  military  character,  and  a  man  of 
address,  he  might  easily  convert  them  into  an  engine  for  the 
worst  of  purposes. 

8.  The  cession  of  the  whole  treaty-making  power  to  the  pres 
ident  and  senate,  was  considered  as  one  of  the  most  formidable 
features  in  the  instrument,  inasmuch  as  it  put  it  in  the  power  of 
the  president  and  any  ten  senators,  who  might  represent  the  five 
smallest  states,  to  enter  into  the  most  ruinous  foreign  engage 
ments,  and  even  to  cede  away  by  treaty  any  portion  of  the  ter 
ritory  of  the  larger  states  :lit  was  insisted,  that  the  lower  house, 
who  were  the  immediate  representatives  of  the  people,  instead 
of  being  excluded  as  they  were  by  the  constitution  from  all  par 
ticipation  in  the  treaty-making  power,  ought  at  least  to  be  con 
sulted,  if  not  to  have  the  principal  agency  in  so  interesting  a 
national  act. 

9.  The  immense  patronage  of  the  president  was  objected  to :. 
because  it  placed  in  his  hands  the  means  of  corrupting  the  con 
gress,   the   navy,    and   army,   and   of  distributing,   moreover, 
throughout   the   society,  a  band  of  retainers   in  the  shape  of 
judges,  revenue  officers,  and  tax-gatherers,  which  would  render 
him  irresistible  in  any  scheme  of  ambition  that  he  might  medi 
tate  against  the  liberties  of  his  country. 

10.  The  irresponsibility  of  the  whole  gang  of  federal  officer* 
(as  they  were  called)  was  objected  to:  there  was  indeed,  in  some 
instances,   a  power  of  impeachment  pretended   to  be   given, 
but  it  was  mere  sham  and  mockery;  since,  instead  of  being 
tried  by  a  tribunal,  zealous  and  interested  to  bring  them  to  jus- 


304  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

tiee,  they  were  to  try  each  other  for  offences,  in  which,  proba 
bly,  they  we.-e  all  mu'ually  implicated. 

11.  It  was  insisted,  that  if  we  must  adopt  a  constitution  ce 
ding  away  such  vast  powers,  express  and  implied,  and  so  fraught 
with  danger  to  the  liberties  of  the  people,  it  ought  at  least  to  be 
guarded  by  a  bill  of  rights;  that  in  all  free  governments,  and  in 
the  estimation  of  all  men  attached  to  liberty,  there  were  certain 
rights  unalienable — imprescriptible — and  of  so  sacred  a  char 
acter,  that  they  could  not  be  guarded  with  too  much  caution: 
among  these  were  the  liberty  of  speech  and  of  the  press — what 
security  had  we,  that  even  these  sacred  privileges  would  not  be 
invaded?  Congress  might  think  it  necessary,  in  order  to  carry 
into  effect  the  given  powers,  to  silence  the  clamours  and  cen 
sures  of  the  people;  and,  if  they  meditated  views  of  lawless 
ambition,  they  certainly  will  so  think  :  what  then  would  become 
of  the  liberty  of  speech  and  of  the  press? 

Several  objections  of  a  minor  character  were  urged,  such  as : — 

1.  That  the  ambiguity  with  which  the  direction  for  publishing 
the  proceedings  of  congress  was  expressed,  ("from  time  to 
time,")  put  it  in  their  power  to  keep  the  people  in  utter  igno 
rance  of  their  proceedings;  and  thus  to  seize  the  public  liberties 
"by  ambuscade." 

2.  That  the  ninth  section  of  the  first  article,  professing  to  set 
out  restrictions  upon  the  power  of  congress,  gave  them,  by  ir 
resistible  implication,  the  sovereign  power  over  all  subjects  not 
excepted,  and   thus  enlarged  their  constructive  powers,  ad  in- 
finitum. 

3.  That  congress  had  the  power  of  involving  the  southern 
states  in  all  the  horrors  which  woultf  result  from  a  total  eman 
cipation  of  their  slaves;  and  that  the  northern  states,  uninter 
ested  in  the  consequences  of  such  an  act,  had  a  controlling  ma 
jority,  which  possessed  the  power,  and  would  not  probably  want 
the  inclination  to  effect  it. 

4.  That  the  pay  of  the  members  was  by  the  constitution  to 
be  fixed  by  themselves,  without  limitation  or  restraint.     "They 
may,  therefore,"  said  Mr.  Henry,  "indulge  themselves  in  the 
fullest  extent.     They  will  make  their  compensation  as  high  as 
they  please.     I  suppose,  if  they  be  good  men,  their  own  deli 
cacy  will  lead  them  to  be  satisfied  with  moderate  salaries.     But 
there  is  no  security  for  this,  should  they  be  otherwise  inclined." 

These  objections,  and  many  others  which  it  were  tedious  to 
enumerate,  were  pressed  upon  the  house  day  after  day,  with  all 
the  powers  of  reasoning  and  of  eloquence  ;  and  where  argument 
and  declamation  were  found  unavailing,  the  force  of  ridicule 
was  freely  resorted  to.  Thus,  in  relation  to  the  objection  of 
consolidation,  Mr.  Madison  had  said : — 


VATRICK    HENRY. 


205 


•'There  are  a  number  of  opinions  as  to  the  nature  of  the  gov 
ernment;  but  the  principal  question  is,  whether  it  be  a  federal 
or  consolidated  government.  In  order  to  judge  properly  of  the 
question  before  us,  we  must  consider  it  minutely  in  its  principal 
parts.  I  conceive,  myself,  that  it  is  of  a  mixed  nature: — it  is, 
in  a  manner,  unprecedented:  we  cannot  find  one  express  exam 
ple  in  the  experience  of  the  world — it  stands  by  itself.  In  some 
respects,  it  is  a  government  of  a  federal  nature;  in  others,  it  is 
of  a  consolidated  nature." 

He  then  proceeds  to  point  out  and  discriminate  its  federal 
from  its  national  features.  Mr.  Corbin,  on  the  same  side,  ex 
pressed  himself  satisfied  with  Mr.  Madison's  definition  of  the 
instrument;  but  begged  leave  to  call  it  by  another  name,  viz., 
" a  representative  federal  government,  as  contradistinguished 
from  a  confederacy." 

Mr.  Henry,  in  replying  to  these  gentlemen,  says: — "This 
government  is  so  new,  it  wants  a  name !  I  wish  its  other  nov 
elties  were  as  harmless  as  this.  We  are  told,  however,  that, 
collectively  taken,  it  is  without  an  example ! — that  it  is  national 
in  this  part,  and  federal  in  that  part,  &c.  We  may  be  amused, 
if  we  please,  by  a  treatise  of  political  anatomy.  In  the  brain 
it  is  national:  the  stamina  are  federal — some  limbs  are  feder 
al,  others  national.  The  senators  are  voted  for  by  the  state 
legislatures — so  far  it  is  federal.  Individuals  choose  the  mem 
bers  of  the  first  branch — here  it  is  national. 

"It  is  federal  in  conferring  general  powers;  but  national  in 
retaining  them.  It  is  not  to  be  supported  by  the  states — the 
pockets  of  individuals  are  to  be  searched  for  its  maintenance. 
What  signifies  it  to  me,  that  you  have  the  most  curious  ana 
tomical  description  of  it  in  its  creation?  To  all  the  common 
purposes  of  legislation,  it  is  a  great  consolidation  of  govern 
ment.  You  are  not  to  have  the  right  to  legislate  in  any  but 
trivial  cases;  you  are  not  to  touch  private  contracts:  you  are 
not  to  have  the  right  of  haying  armies  in  your  own  defence: 
you  cannot  be  trusted  with  dealing  out  justice  between  man  and 
man. 

"  What  shall  the  states  have  to  do  ?  Take  care  of  the  poor 
— repair  and  make  highways — erect  bridges — and  so  on,  and 
so  on  !  Abolish  the  state  legislatures  at  once.  What  purposes 
should  they  be  continued  for?  Our  legislature  will  indeed  be  a 
ludicrous  spectacle — one  hundred  and  eighty  men,  marching  in 
solemn  farcical  procession,  exhibiting  a  mournful  proof  of  the 
lost  liberty  of  their  country,  without  the  power  of  restoring  it. 
But,  sir,  we  have  the  consolation,  that  it  is  a  mixed  government* 
that  is,  it  may  work  sorely  in  your  neck;  but  you  will  have  some 
comfort  by  saying,  that  it  was  a  federal  government  in  its  origin !'' 

18 


206  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

Notwithstanding  this  ridicule,  however,  thrown  on  some  of 
their  argument?,  Mr.  Henry  did  not  fail,  on  every  proper  occa 
sion,  to  do  justice  to  the  great  abilities  and  merits  of  his  adver 
saries.  To  the  eloquence  of  Col.  Innis  he  paid  a  memorable 
tribute;  and  in  one  short  sentence  sketched  a  picture  of  it  so 
vivid,  and  so  faithful,  that  it  would  be  injustice  to  both  gentle 
men  not  to  give  it  a  place: — "That  honourable  gentleman  is 
endowed  with  great  eloquence — eloquence  splendid,  magnificent, 
and  sufficient  to  shake  the  human  mind!" 

No  circumlocution  could  have  described  with  half  the  spirit 
and  truth,  that  rare  union  of  pomp  and  power  which  distinguished 
Col.  Innis;  whose  car  of  triumph  was  always  a  chariot  of  war; 
pugruz  vel  pompa,  pariter  aptus.  One  of  the  most  singular 
instances  on  record  of  the  fallacy  of  the  human  memory,  oc 
curred  in  the  course  of  these  debates:  this  was  in  relation  to 
the  case  of  Josiah  Phillips,  which  has  been  already  mentioned. 
Mr.  Randolph,  in  answer  to  Mr.  Henry's  panegyrics  on  the  con 
stitution  of  the  state  of  Virginia,  brought  forward  that  case  in 
the  following  terms  : — 

"There  is  one  example  of  this  violation  (of  the  state  consti 
tution)  in  Virginia,  of  a  most  striking  and  shocking  nature;  an 
example  so  horrid,  that  if  I  conceived  my  country  would  pas 
sively  permit  a  repetition  of  it,  dear  as  it  is  to  me,  I  would  seek 
means  of  expatriating  myself  from  it.  A  man,  who  was  then  a 
citizen,  was  deprived  of  his  life  thus: — from  a  mere  reliance  on 
general  reports,  a  gentleman  in  the  house  of  delegates  informed 
the  house,  that  a  certain  man  (Josiah  Philips)  had  committed 
several  crimes,  and  was  running  at  large  perpetrating  other 
crimes;  he,  therefore,  moved  for  leave  to  attaint  him;  he  ob 
tained  that  leave  instantly;  no  sooner  did  he  obtain  it,  than  he 
drew  from  his  pocket  a  bill  ready  written  for  that  effect;  it  was 
read  three  times  in  one.  day,  and  carried  to  the  senate;  I  will 
not  say  that  it  passed  the  same  day  through  the  senate ;  but  he 
was  attainted  very  speedily  and  precipitately,  without  any  proof 
better  than  vague  reports! 

"  Without  being  confronted  with  his  accusers  and  witnesses  : 
without  the  privilege  of  calling  for  evidence  in  his  behalf,  he 
was  sentenced  to  death,  and  was  afterward  actually  executed. 
Was  this  arbitrary  deprivation  of  life,  the  dearest  gift  of  God  to 
man,  consistent  with  the  genius  of  a  republican  government? 
Is  this  compatible  with  the  spirit  of  freedom?  This,  sir,  has 
made  the  deepest  impression  in  my  heart,  and  I  cannot  contem 
plate  it  without  horror."  Now  the  reader,  by  adverting  to  the 
statement  which  has  been  already  given  of  Philips's  case,  and 
which  is  founded  on  record,  will  find  that  there  is  not  one 
word  of  this  eloquent  invective  that  is  consistent  with  the  facts. 


PATRICK    HENRY.  207 

What  makes  the  case  still  more  strange  is,  that  Mr.  Ran 
dolph,  at  the  happening  of  the  occurrence  to  which  he  alludes, 
held  the  double  office  of  clerk  of  the  house  of  delegates,  and 
attorney-general  of  the  commonwealth  ;  in  the  first  character, 
he  had,  only  ten  years  before,  been  officially  informed,  that  the 
bill  of  attainder  had  not  been  founded  on  report,  but  on  a  com 
munication  of  the  governor,  enclosing  the  letter  of  the  command 
ing  officer  of  the  militia  in  the  quarter  which  was  the  theatre  of 
Philips's  ravages ;  that  that  letter  had  been  in  due  form  commit 
ted  to  the  whole  house  on  the  state  of  the  commonwealth,  whose 
resolutions  led  to  the  bill  in  question  ;  and  that  the  bill,  instead 
9f  being  read  three  times  in  one  day,  had  been  regularly,  and 
according  to  the  forms  of  the  house,  read  on  three  several  days. 

While  in  his  character  of  attorney-general,  he  had  himself 
endicted  and  prosecuted  Philips  for  highway  robbery — con 
fronted  him  with  the  witnesses,  whose  names  are  given  at  the 
foot  of  the  endictrnent,  still  extant  among  our  records,  and  en 
dorsed  in  Mr.  Randolph's  own  hand-writing  ;  convicted  him  on 
that  charge,  on  which  charge,  and  on  which  alone,  Philips,  was 
regularly  sentenced  and  executed.  Yet,  not  only  Mr.  Ran 
dolph,  but  all  the  other  members  who  had  occasion  to  advert  to 
the  circumstance,  and  even  Mr.  Henry,  on  whom  it  is  supposed 
to  have  been  designed  to  bear,  proceed  in  their  several  crimina 
tions  and  defences,  upon  the  admission  that  Philips  had  fallen  a 
victim  to  the  bill  of  attainder.  Had  the  incident  been  of  a  com 
mon  character,  there  would  have  been  nothing  strange  in  its 
having  been  forgotten  ;  but  it  is  one  of  so  singular  and  interest 
ing  a  nature,  that  this  total  oblivion  of  it  by  the  principal  actors 
themselves  becomes  a  matter  of  curious  history.  (See  Appen 
dix.  Note  C.) 

The  convention  had  been  attended,  from  its  commencement, 
by  a  vast  concourse  of  citizens  of  all  ages  and  conditions.  The 
interest  so  universally  felt  in  the  question  itself,  and  not  less  the 
transcendent  talents  which  were  engaged  in  its  discussion,  pre 
sented  such  attractions  as  could  not  be  resisted.  Industry  de 
serted  its  pursuits,  and  even  dissipation  gave  up  its  objects,  for 
the  superior  enjoyments  which  were  presented  by  the  hall  ot 
the  convention.  Not  only  the  people  of  the  town  and  neigh 
bourhood,  but  gentlemen  from  every  quarter  of  the  state,  were 
seen  thronging  to  the  metropolis,  and  speeding  their  eager  way 
to  the  building  in  which  the  convention  held  its  meetings. 

Day  after  day,  from  morning  till  night,  the  galleries  of  the 
house  were  continually  filled  with  an  anxious  crowd,  who  forgot 
the  inconvenience  of  their  situation  in  the  excess  of  their  enjoy 
ment  ;  and  far  from  giving  any  interruption  to  the  course  of  the 
debate,  increased  its  interest  and  solemnity  by  their  silence  and 


208  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

attention.  No  bustle,  no  motion,  no  sound  was  heard  among 
them,  save  only  a  slight  movement  when  some  new  speaker 
arose,  whom  they  were  all  eager  to  see  as  well  as  to  hear ;  or 
when  some  masterstroke  of  eloquence  shot  thrilling  along  their 
nerves,  and  extorted  an  involuntary  and  inarticulate  murmur. 
Day  after  day  was  this  banquet  of  the  mind  and  of  the  heart 
spread  before  them,  with  a  delicacy  and  variety  which  could 
never  cloy. 

There  every  taste  might  find  its  peculiar  gratifications — the 
man  of  wit — the  man  of  feeling — the  critic — the  philosopher — - 
the  historian — the  metaphysician — the  lover  of  logic — the  ad 
mirer  of  rhetoric — every  man  who  had  an  eye  for  the  beauty 
of  action,  or  an  ear  for  the  harmony  of  sound,  or  a  soul  for  the 
charms  of  poetic  fancy — in  short,  every  one  who  could  see,  or 
hear,  or  feel,  or  understand,  might  find  in  the  wanton  profusion 
and  prodigality  of  that  attic  feast,  some  delicacy  adapted  to  his 
peculiar  taste.  Every  mode  of  attack  and  of  defence,  of  which 
the  human  mind  is  capable,  in  decorous  debate — every  species 
of  weapon  and  armour,  offensive  and  defensive,  that  could  be 
used  with  advantage,  from  the  Roman  javelin  to  the  Parthian 
arrow,  from  the  cloud  of  Eneas  to  the  shield  of  Achilles — all 
that  could  be  accomplished  by  human  strength,  and  almost 
more  than  human  activity,  was  seen  exhibited  on  that  celebra 
ted  floor. 

Nor  did  the  debate  become  oppressive  by  its  unvarying  for 
mality.  The  stateliness  and  sternness  of  extended  argument 
were  frequently  relieved  by  quick  and  animated  dialogue. 
Sometimes  the  conversation  would  become  familiar  and  friendly. 
The  combatants  themselves  would  seem  pleased  with  this  re 
lief;  forget  that  they  were  enemies,  and  by  a  sort  of  informal 
truce  put  off  their  armour,  and  sit  down  amicably  together  to 
repose,  as  it  were,  in  the  shade  of  the  same  tree.  By  this  agree 
able  intermixture  of  colloquial  sprightliness  and  brilliancy  with 
profound,  and  learned,  and  vigorous  argument — of  social  cour 
tesy,  and  heroic  gallantry,  the  audience,  far  from  being  fa 
tigued  with  the  discussion,  looked  with  regret  to  the  hour  of  ad 
journment. 

In  this  great  competition  of  talents,  Mr.  Henry's  powers  ol 
debate  still  shone  pre-eminent.  They  were  now  exhibiting 
themselves  in  a  new  aspect.  Hitherto  his  efforts,  however 
splendid,  had  been  comparatively  short  and  occasional.  In  the 
house  of  burgesses  in  seventeen  hundred  and  sixty-five,  in  the 
congress  of  seventeen  hundred  and  seventy-four,  and  the  state 
convention  of  seventeen  hundred  and  seventy-five,  he  had  ex 
hibited  the  impetuous  charge  of  the  gallant  Francis  the  First: 
but  now,  in  combination  with  this  fiery  force,  he  was  displaying 


PATRICK    HENRY.  209 

all  the  firm  and  dauntless  constancy  of  Charles  the  Fifth.  No 
shock  of  his  adversaries  could  move  him  from  his  ground.  His 
resources  never  failed.  His  eloquence  was  poured  from  inex 
haustible  fountains,  and  assumed  every  variety  of  hue  and  form 
and  motion,  which  could  delight  or  persuade,  instruct  or  as 
tonish. 

Sometimes  it  was  the  limpid  rivulet  sparkling  down  the 
mountain's  side,  and  winding  its  silver  course  between  margins 
of  moss — then  gradually  swelling  to  a  bolder  stream,  it  roared 
in  the  headlong  cataract,  and  spread  its  rainbows  to  the  sun — 
now,  it  flowed  on  in  tranquil  majesty,  like  a  river  of  the  west, 
reflecting  from  it  polished  surface,  forest,  and  cliff,  and  sky — 
anon,  it  was  the  angry  ocean,  chafed  by  the  tempest,  hanging 
its  billows,  with  deafening  clamours,  among  the  cracking 
shrouds,  or  hurling  them  in  sublime  defiance  at  the  storm  that 
frowned  above. 

Toward  the  close  of  the  session,  an  incident  occurred  of  a 
character  so  extraordinary  as  to  deserve  particular  notice.  The 
question  of  adoption  or  rejection  was  now  approaching.  The 
decision  was  still  uncertain,  and  every  mind  and  every  heart 
was  filled  with  anxiety.  Mr.  Henry  partook  most  deeply  of 
this  feeling  ;  and  while  engaged,  as  it  were,  in  his  last  efforts, 
availed  himself  of  the  strong  sensations  which  he  knew  to  per 
vade  the  house,  and  made  an  appeal  to  it  which,  in  point  of  sub 
limity,  has  never  been  surpassed  in  any  age  or  country  of  the 
world. 

After  describing,  in  accents  which  spoke  to  the  soul,  and  to 
which  every  other  bosom  deeply  responded,  the  awful  immen 
sity  of  the  question  to  the  present  and  future  generations,  and 
the  throbbing  apprehensions  with  which  he  looked  to  the  issue, 
he  passed  from  the  house  and  from  the  earth,  and  looking  as 
he  said,  "beyond  that  horizon  which  binds  mortal  eyes,"  he 
pointed — with  a  countenance  and  action  that  made  the  blood 
run  back  upon  the  aching  heart — to  those  celestial  beings  who 
were  hovering  over  the  scene,  and  waiting  with  anxiety  for  a 
decision  which  involved  the  happiness  or  misery  of  more  than 
half  the  human  race. 

To  those  beings — with  the  same  thrilling  look  and  action — 
lie  had  just  addressed  an  invocation  that  made  every  nerve 
shudder  with  supernatural  horror — when,  lo  !  a  storm  at  that 
instant  arose,  which  shook  the  whole  building,  and  the  spirits 
whom  he  had  called  seemed  to  have  come  at  his  bidding.  Nor 
did  his  eloquence,  or  the  storm  immediately  cease — but  avail 
ing  himself  of  the  incident,  with  a  master's  art,  he  seemed  to 
mix  in  the  fight  of  his  ethereal  auxiliaries,  and  "rising  on  the 
wings  of  the  tempest,  to  seize  upon  the  artillery  of  Heaven, 

18* 


210  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

and  direct  its  fiercest  thunders  against  the  heads  of  his  adver 
saries."     The    scene   became   insupportable ;    and  the   house 
rose  without  the  formality  of  adjournment,  the  members  rush 
ing  from  their  seat  with  precipitation  and  confusion.* 

But  all  his  efforts  were  in  vain.  Either  the  justice  of  the  op 
posing  cause,  or  the  powers  of  his  adversaries,  or  the  prejudg 
ed  opinions  and  instructions  of  the  members,  rendered  his  rea 
soning  and  his  eloquence  equally  unavailing.  Out  of  a  house, 
composed  of  one  hundred  and  sixty-eight  members,  the  ques 
tion  of  ratification  was  carried  by  a  majority  of  ten.  Mr. 
Henry  seemed  to  have  a  presage  of  this  result.  After  the 
storm  which  has  been  mentioned,  Colonel  Innis,  who,  in  his 
character  of  attorney-general,  had  been  nitherto  attending  a 
court  of  oycr  and  tcr miner,  came  into  the  house,  and  the  de 
bate  was  renewed.  Mr.  Henry,  in  answering  him,  closed  the 
last  speech  which  he  delivered  on  the  floor,  with  the  following 
remarks  : — 

"  I  beg  pardon  of  this  house  for  having  taken  up  more  time 
than  came  to  my  share ;  and  I  thank  them  for  the  patience  and 
polite  attention  with  which  I  have  been  heard.  If  I  shall  be  in 
the  minority,  I  shall  have  those  painful  sensations  which  arise 
from  a  conviction  of  being  overpowered  in  a  good  cause.  Yet, 
I  will  be  a  peaceable  citizen  !  My  head,  my  hand,  and  my 
heart  shall  be  free  to  retrieve  the  loss  of  liberty,  and  remove 
the  defects  of  that  system,  in  a  constitutional  way.  I  wish 
not  to  go  to  violence,  but  will  wait  with  hopes  that  the  spirit 
which  predominated  in  the  revolution  is  not  yet  gone  :  nor  the 
cause  of  those  who  are  attached  to  the  revolution  yet  lost— I 
shall  therefore  patiently  wait,  in  expectation  of  seeing  that 
government  changed,  so  as  to  be  compatible  with  the  safety, 
liberty,  and  happiness  of  the  people." 

The  objections,  however,  which  had  been  urged,  and  the  ar 
guments  by  which  they  had  been  supported,  although  they 
had  not  succeeded  in  preventing  the  ratification  of  the  consti 
tution,  had  produced  a  very  serious  effect  on  the  house.  Be 
fore  their  final  dissolution,  they  agreed  to  a  bill  of  rights,  and 
a  series  of  amendments  (twenty  in  number,)  embracing  and 
providing  for  the  objections  of  Mr.  Henry  and  his  associates. 
A  copy  of  these  amendments,  engrossed  on  parchment,  and 

*  The  words  above  quoted  are  those  of  Judge  Archibald  Stewart ;  a  gen 
tleman  who  was  present,  a  member  of  the  convention,  and  one  of  those  who 
voted  against  the  side  of  the  question  supported  by  Mr.  Henry.  The  incident, 
as  given  in  the  text,  is  wholly  founded  on  the  statements  oif  those  who  were 
witnesses  of  the  scene ;  and  by  comparing  it  with  the  corresponding  passage 
in  the  printed  debates,  the  reader  may  decide  how  far  these  are  to  be  relied  on 
as  specimens  of  Mr.  Henry's  eloquence. 


PATRICK    HENRY.  211 

signed  by  the  president  of  the  convention,  was  ordered  to  be 
transmitted  to  congress,  together  with  the  instrument  of  rati 
fication.  Similar  copies  were  ordered  to  be  transmitted  to 
the  executive  and  legislatures  of  the  several  states  ;  and  fifty 
copies  of  the  ratification  and  proposed  amendments  were  ordered 
to  be  struck  for  the  use  of  each  county  in  this  commonwealth. 

Mr.  Henry  lost  no  ground  with  the  people,  at  the  time,  for 
the  part  which  he  had  taken  on  this  occasion  ;  and  when  after 
ward  the  constitution  began  to  develop  its  tendencies  by  prac 
tical  operation,  so  many  of  his  predictions  were  believed  by  a 
majority  of  the  people  of  Virginia  to  be  fulfilled,  and  so  many 
more  in  a  rapid  progress  of  fulfilment,  that  his  character  for 
political  penetration  rose  higher  than  ever.  That  he  had  lost 
no  ground  at  the  time,  two  signal  proofs  were  given  in  the  ses 
sion  of  assembly  immediately  following  that  of  the  convention. 
The  latter  body  rose  on  the  twenty-seventh  of  June,  and  the 
assembly  met  on  the  twentieth  of  October  following.  This, 
interval  had  been  too  short  to  permit  the  subsidence  of  that 
high  excitement,  Avhich  the  canvass  of  the  constitution  had 
provoked  ;  and  the  assembly  was  consequently  discriminated 
by  feelings  of  party  as  strong  and  determined,  as  those  which 
had  characterized  the  convention  itself. 

The  constitution  having  been  adopted  by  a  sufficient  num 
ber  of  states  to  carry  it  into  effect,  it  became  necessary  at  this 
session  to  provide  for  its  organization,  and,  among  other  meas 
ures,  to  choose  two  senators  to  represent  this  state,  in  the  con 
gress  of  the  United  States.  For  this  office,  Mr.  Madison  was 
presented  by  those  who  were  at  that  time  distinguished  by  the 
appellation  of  federalists  ;  by  which  nothing  more  was  then 
meant,  than  that  they  were  advocates  for  the  adoption  of  the 
new  federal  constitution. 

The  anti-federalists,  on  the  contrary,  who  were  alarmed  by 
the  vast  powers  which  they  considered  as  granted  by  the  con 
stitution,  regarded  it  as  a  salutary  check  on  the  constructive 
extension  of  those  powers,  and  as  the  best  means  of  securing 
those  amendments  which  they  deemed  essential  to  the  liber 
ties  of  the  people,  that  the  first  congress  should  be  composed 
of  men  of  their  own  sentiments.  In  opposition  to  Mr.  Madi 
son,  therefore,  Mr.  Henry  took  the  unusual  liberty  of  nomi 
nating  two  candidates,  Mr.  Richard  H.  Lee  and  Mr.  Grayson  ; 
and,  notwithstanding  the  great  accession  of  character  which 
Mr.  Madison  had  acquired  by  the  ability  with  which  he  had  es 
poused  the  ratification  of  the  constitution,  those  gentlemen 
were  elected  by  a  considerable  majority. 

At  the  same  session  of  the  assembly,  Mr.  Hf-tiry,  whose 
mind  seems  to  have  been  filled  with  the  most  oppressive  solir 


212  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

citude  by  the  unconditional  adoption  of  the  constitution,  and 
who  brooded  with  correspondent  anxiety  over  the  most  effect 
ive  means  of  procuring  amendments,  moved,  in  the  committee 
of  the  whole  house,  the  following  preamble  and  resolu 
tions  : — 

"Whereas  the  convention  of  delegates  of  the  people  of  this 
commonwealth  did  ratify  a  constitution  or  form  of  government 
for  the  United  States,  referred  to  them  for  their  consideration, 
and  did  also  declare  that  sundry  amendments  to  exceptionable 
parts  of  the  same  ought  to  be  adopted  ;  and  whereas  the  sub 
ject-matter  of  the  amendments  agreed  to  by  the  said  convention 
involves  all  the  great,  essential,  and  unalienable  rights,  liber 
ties,  and  privileges  of  freemen;  many  of  which,  if  not  cancel 
led,  are  rendered  insecure  under  the  said  constitution,  until  the 
same  shall  be  altered  and  amended  : — 

"Resolved,  That  it  is  the  opinion  of  this  committee,  that 
for  quieting  the  minds  of  the  good  citizens  of  this  common 
wealth — and  securing  their  dearest  rights  and  liberties — and 
preventing  those  disorders  which  must  arise  under  a  govern 
ment  not  founded  in  the  confidence  of  the  people — application 
be  made  to  the  congress  of  the  United  States,  as  soon  as  they 
shall  assemble  under  the  said  constitution,  to  call  a  convention 
for  proposing  amendments  to  the  same,  according  to  the  mode 
therein  directed. 

"  Resolved,  That  it  is  the  opinion  of  this  committee,  that  a 
committee  ought  to  be  appointed  to  draw  up  and  report  to  the 
house,  a  proper  instrument  of  writing,  expressing  the  sense  of 
the  general  assembly,  and  pointing  out  the  reasons  which  in 
duce  them  to  urge  their  application  thus  early,  for  calling  the 
aforesaid  convention  of  the  states. 

"Resolved,  That  it  is  the  opinion  of  this  committee,  that 
the  said  committee  ought  to  be  instructed  to  prepare  the  draft 
of  a  letter,  in  answer  to  one  received  from  his  excellency 
George  Clinton,  Esq.,  president  of  the  convention  of  New 
York — and  a  circular  letter,  on  the  aforesaid  subject,  to  the 
other  states  in  the  union,  expressive  of  the  wish  of  the  general 
assembly  of  this  commonwealth,  that  they  may  join  in  an  appli 
cation  to  the  new  congress,  to  appoint  a  convention  of  the  states, 
so  soon  as  the  congress  shall  assemble  under  the  new  consti 
tution." 

These  were  carried  in  committee,  and  immediately  reported 
to  the  house;  when  a  motion  was  made  to  amend  them,  by 
striking  out  from  the  word  "  whereas,"  and  substituting  in  lieu 
of  the  original,  the  following  preamble  and  resolutions : — 

"  Whereas,  the  delegates  appointed  to  represent  the  good 
people  of  this  commonwealth,  in  the  late  convention  held  m 


PATRICK    HENRY.  213 

the  month  of  June  last,  did,  by  their  act  of  the  twenty-fifth  of 
the  same  month,  assent  to  and  ratify  the  constitution,  recom 
mended  on  the  seventeenth  day  of  September,  seventeen  hun 
dred  and  eighty-seven,  by  the  federal  convention  for  the  gov 
ernment  of  the  United  States,  declaring  themselves,  with  a  sol 
emn  appeal  to  the  Searcher  of  hearts  for  the  purity  of  their 
intentions,  under  the  conviction,  "  that  whatsoever  imperfec 
tions  might  exist  in  the  constitution,  ought  rather  to  be  exam 
ined  in  the  mode  prescribed  therein,  than  to  bring  the  Union 
into  danger  by  a  delay,  with  a  hope  of  obtaining  amendments 
previous  to  the  ratitication. 

"  And  whereas,  in  pursuance  of  the  said  declaration,  the 
same  convention  did,  by  their  subsequent  act  of  the  twenty- 
seventh  of  June,  aforesaid,  agree  to  such  amendments  to  the 
said  constitution  of  the  government  for  the  United  States,  as 
were  by  them  deemed  necessary  to  be  recommended  to  the 
consideration  of  the  congress  which  shall  first  assemble  under 
the  said  constitution,  to  be  acted  upon  according  to  the  mode 
prescribed  in  the  fifth  article  thereof;  at  the  same  time  enjoin 
ing  it  upon  their  representatives  in  congress,  to  exert  all  their 
influence,  and  use  all  reasonable  and  legal  methods,  to  obtain  a 
ratification  of  the  foregoing  alterations  and  provisions,  in  the 
manner  provided  by  the  fifth  article  of  the  said  constitution, 
and  in  all  congressional  laws  to  be  passed  in  the  meantime,  to 
conform  to  the  spirit  of  those  amendments  as  far  as  the  said 
constitution  would  admit. 

"Resolved,  Therefore,  that  it  is  the  opinion  of  this  committee, 
that  an  application  ought  to  be  made,  in  the  name  and  on  the 
behalf  of  the  legislature  of  this  commonwealth,  to  the  congress 
of  the  United  States,  so  soon  as  they  shall  assemble  under  the 
said  constitution,  to  pass  an  act  recommending  to  the  legisla 
tures  of  the  several  states,  the  ratification  of  a  bill  of  rights, 
and  of  certain  articles  of  amendment,  proposed  by  the  conven 
tion  of  this  state,  for  the  adoption  of  the  United  States;  and 
that,  until  the  said  act  shall  be  ratified  in  pursuance  of  the  fifth 
article  of  the  said  constitution  of  the  government  for  the  United 
States,  congress  do  conform  their  ordinances  to  the  true  spirit 
of  the  said  bill  of  rights  and  articles  of  amendment. 

"Resolved,  That  it  is  the  opinion  of  this  committee,  that  the 
executive  ought  to  be  instructed  to  transmit  a  copy  of  the  fore 
going  resolution  to  the  congress  of  the  United  States,  so  soon 
as  they  shall  assemble,  and  to  the  legislatures  and  executive 
authorities  of  each  state  in  the  union." 

On  this  proposal  of  amendment  a  very  animated  debate  en 
sued,  which  resulted  in  its  rejection,  and  the  adoption  of  the, 
original  report,  by  a  majority  of  more  than  two  for  one. 


214  WIRT'S  LIFE  or 

These  two  measures — the  election  of  the  senators  named  by 
Mr.  Henry,  in  opposition  to  so  formidable  a  competitor  as  Mr. 
Madison — and  the  carrying  so  strong  a  measure  as  the  call  of  a 
new  continental  convention,  for  the  purpose  of  revising  and  al 
tering  the  constitution — certainly  furnish  the  most  decisive  proof, 
that  his  influence  remained  unimpaired  by  the  part  which  he 
had  taken  in  the  convention  of  the  state. 

It  was  in  the  course  of  the  debate  which  has  been  just  men 
tioned,  that  Mr.  Henry  was  driven  from  his  usual  decorum  into 
a  retaliation,  that  became  a  theme  of  great  public  merriment  at 
the  time,  and  has  continued  ever  since  one  of  the  most  popular 
anecdotes  that  relate  to  him. 

He  had  insisted,  it  seems,  with  great  force,  that  the  speedy 
adoption  of  the  amendments  was  the  only  measure  that  could 
secure  the  great  and  unalienable  rights  of  the  freemen  of  this 
country — that  the  people  were  known  to  be  exceedingly  anxious 
for  this  measure — that  it  was  the  only  step  which  could  recon 
cile  them  to  the  new  constitution — and  assure  that  public  con 
tentment,  security,  and  confidence,  which  were  the  sole  objects 
of  government,  and  without  which  no  government  could  stand 
— that  whatever  might  be  the  individual  sentiments  of  gentle 
men,  yet  the  wishes  of  the  people,  the  foundation  of  all  author 
ity,  being  known,  they  were  bound  to  conform  to  those  wishes 
— that,  for  his  own  part,  he  considered  his  opinion  as  nothing, 
when  opposed  to  those  of  his  constituents;  and  that  he  was 
ready  and  willing  at  all  times  and  on  all  occasions,  "to  bow, 
with  the  utmost  deference,  to  the  majesty  of  the  people" 

A  young  gentleman,  on  the  federal  side  of  the  house,  who  had 
been  a  member  of  the  late  convention,  and  had  in  that  body,  re 
ceived,  on  one  occasion,  a  slight  touch  of  Mr.  Henry's  lash,  re 
solved  now,  in  an  ill-fated  moment,  to  make  a  set  charge  upon 
the  veteran,  and  brave  him  to  the  combat.  He  possessed  fancy, 
a  graceful  address,  and  an  easy,  sprightly  elocution;  and  had 
been  sent  by  his  father,  (an  opulent  man,  and  an  officer  of  high 
rank  and  trust  under  the  regal  government,)  to  finish  his  educa 
tion  in  the  colleges  of  England,  and  acquire  the  polish  of  the 
court  of  St.  James ;  where  he  had  passed  the  whole  period  of 
the  American  revolution. 

Returning  with  advantages  which  were  rare  in  this  country, 
and  with  the  confidence  natural  to  his  years,  presuming  a  little 
too  far  upon  those  advantages,  he  seized  upon  the  words,  "bow 
to  the  majesty  of  the  people,"  which  Mr.  Henry  had  used,  and 
rung  the  changes  upon  them  with  considerable  felicity. 

He  denied  the  solicitude  of  the  people  for  the  amendments, 
so  strenuously  urged  on  the  other  side;  he  insisted  that  the  peo 
ple  thought  their  "great  and  unalienable  rights"  sufficiently  se- 


PATRICK    HENRY.  215 

cured  by  the  constitution  which  they  had  adopted:  that  the  pre 
amble  of  the  constitution  itself,  which  was  now  to  be  considered 
as  the  language  of  the  people,  declared  its  objects  to  be,  among 
others,  the  security  of  those  very  rights;  the  people  then  de 
clare  the  constitution  the  guarantee  of  their  rights,  while  the 
gentleman,  in  opposition  to  this  public  declaration  of  their  sen 
timents,  insists  upon  his  amendments  as  furnishing  that  guaran 
tee;  yet  the  gentleman  tells  us,  that  "he  bows  to  the  majesty 
of  the  people:"  these  words  he  accompanied  with  a  most  grace 
ful  bow. 

"The  gentleman,"  he  proceeded,  "had  set  himself  in  oppo 
sition  to  the  will  of  the  people,  throughout  the  whole  course  of 
this  transaction:  the  people  approved  of  the  constitution:  the 
suffrage  of  their  constituents  in  the  last  convention  had  proved 
it — the  people  wished,  most  anxiously  wished,  the  adoption  of 
the  constitution,  as  the  only  means  of  saving  the  credit  and  the 
honour  of  the  country,  and  producing  the  stability  of  the  union : 
the  gentleman,  on  the  contrary,  had  placed  himself  at  the  head 
of  those  who  opposed  its  adoption — yet,  the  gentleman  is  ever 
ready  and  willing,  at  all  times  and  on  all  occasions,  to  bow  to 
the  majesty  of  the  people,"  (with  another  profound  and  graceful 
bow.) 

Thus  he  proceeded,  through  a  number  of  animated  sentences, 
winding  up  each  one  with  the  same  words,  sarcastically  repeat 
ed,  and  the  accompaniment  of  the  same  graceful  obeisance. 
Among  other  things,  he  said,  "it  was  of  little  importance  whether 
a  country  was  ruled  by  a  despot,  with  a  tiara  on  his  head,  or  by 
a  demagogue  in  a  red  cloak,  a  caul-bare  wig,"  &c.,  (describing 
Mr.  Henry's  dress  so  minutely,  as  to  draw  every  eye  upon  him,) 
"although  he  should  profess  on  all  occasions  to  bow  to  the  ma 
jesty  of  the  people." 

A  gentleman  who  was  present,  and  who,  struck  with  the  sin 
gularity  of  the  attack,  had  the  curiosity  to  number  the  vibrations 
on  those  words,  and  the  accompanying  action,  states,  that  he 
counted  thirteen  of  the  most  graceful  bows  he  had  ever  beheld. 
The  friends  of  Mr.  Henry  considered  such  an  attack  on  a  man 
of  his  years  and  high  character  as  very  little  short  of  sacrilege; 
on  the  other  side  of  the  house,  there  was,  indeed,  a  smothered 
sort  of  dubious  laugh,  in  which  there  seemed  to  be  at  least  as 
much  apprehension  as  enjoyment.  Mr.  Henry  had  heard  the 
whole  of  it  without  any  apparent  mark  of  attention. 

The  young  gentleman  having  finished  his  philipic,  very  much 
at  least  to  his  own  satisfaction,  took  his  seat,  with  the  gayest 
expression  of  triumph  in  his  countenance — "Heu!  Nescia 
mens  hominum,  fati,  sortisque  futures  /"  Mr.  Henry  raised 
himself  up,  heavily,  and  with  affected  awkwardness — 


JJ16  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

"Mr.  Speaker,"  said  he,  "  I  am  a  plain  man,  and  have  been 
educated  altogether  In  Virginia.     My  whole  life  has  been  spent 
among  planters,  and  other  plain  men  of  similar  education,  who 
have  never  had  the  advantage  of  that  polish  which  a  court  alone 
can  give,  and  which  the  gentleman  over  the  way  has  so  happily 
acquired;  indeed,  sir,  the  gentleman's  employments  and  mine 
(in  common  with  the  great  mass  of  his  countrymen)  have  been 
as  widely  different  as  our  fortunes;  for  while  that  gentleman 
was  availing  himself  of  the  opportunity  which  a  splendid  for 
tune  afforded  him,  of  acquiring  a  foreign  education,  mixing 
among  the  great,  attending  levees  and  courts,  basking  in  the 
beams  of  royal  favour  at  St.  James1,  and  exchanging  courtesies 
with  crowned  heads,  I  was  engaged  in  the  arduous  toils  of  the 
revolution;  and  was  probably  as  far  from  thinking  of  acquiring 
those  polite  accomplishments  which  the  gentleman  has  so  suc 
cessfully  cultivated,  as  that  gentleman  then  was  from  sharing  in 
the  toils  and  dangers  in  which  his  unpolished  countrymen  were 
engaged. 

"I  will  not,  therefore,  presume  to  vie  with  the  gentleman  in 
those  courtly  accomplishments,  of  which  he  has  just  given  the 
house  so  agreeable  a  specimen;  yet  such  a  bow  as  I  can  make, 
shall  be  ever  at  the  service  of  the  people." — Herewith,  although 
there  was  no  man  who  could  make  a  more  graceful  bow  than 
Mr.  Henry,  he  made  one  so  ludicrously  awkward  and  clownish, 
as  took  the  house  by  surprise,  and  put  them  into  a  roar  of  laugh 
ter. — "The  gentleman,  I  hope,  will  commiserate  the  disadvan 
tages  of  education  under  which  I  have  laboured,  and  will  be 
pleased  to  remember,  that  1  have  never  been  a  favourite  with  that 
monarch,  whose  gracious  smile  he  has  had  the  happiness  to  enjoy." 
He  pursued  this  contrast  of  situations  and  engagements,  for 
fifteen  or  twenty  minutes,  without  a  smile,  and  without  the 
smallest  token  of  resentment,  either  in  countenance,  expression, 
or  manner.  "You  would  almost  have  sworn,"  says  a  corres 
pondent,  "that  he  thought  nimself  making  his  apology  for  his 
own  .awkwardness,  before  a  full  drawing-room  at  St.  James.' 
I  believe  there  was  not  a  person  that  heard  him,  the  sufferer 
himself  excepted,  who  did  not  feel  every  risible  nerve  affected. 
His  adversary  meantime  hung  down  his  head,  and  sinking  low 
er  and  lower,  until  he  was  almost  concealed  behind  the  inter 
posing  forms,  submitted  to  the  discipline  as  quietly  as  a  Russian 
malefactor,  who  had  been  beaten  with  the  knout,  till  all  sense 
of  feeling  was  lost." 

The  documents  reported  and  adopted  by  the  house  of  dele 
gates,  in  consequence  of  the  foregoing  resolutions,  are  the  fol 
lowing — which  are  given  because  they  are  said  to  be  from  the 
pen  of  Mr.  Henry : — 


PATRICK    HENRY. 

"Resolved,  That  it  is  the  opinion  of  this  committee,  that  an 
application  ought  to  be  made,  in  the  name  and  on  behalf  of  the 
legislature  of  this  commonwealth,  to  the  congress  of  the  United 
States,  in  the  following  words,  to  wit:— 
"The  good  people  of  this  commonwealth, 

"In  convention  assembled,  having  ratified  the  constitution 
submitted  to  their  consideration,  this  legislature  has,  in  confor 
mity  to  that  act,  and  the  resolutions  of  the  United  States  in  con? 
gress  assembled,  to  them  transmitted,  thought  proper  to  make 
the  arrangements  that  were  necessary  for  carrying  it  into  effect. 
Having  thus  shown  themselves  obedient  to  the  voice  of  their 
constituents,  all  America  will  find  that  so  far  as  it  depends  on 
them,  that  plan  of  government  will  be  carried  into  immediate 
operation.  But  the  sense  of  the  people  of  Virginia  would  be 
but  in  part  complied  with,  and  but  little  regarded,  if  we  went  no 
further. 

"In  the  very  moment  of  adoption,  and  coeval  with  the  ratifir 
cation  of  the  new  plan  of  government,  the  general  voice  of  the 
convention  of  this  state  pointed  to  objects  no  less  interesting  to 
the  people  we  represent,  and  equally  entitled  to  your  attention. 
At  the  same  time  that,  from  motives  of  affection  for  our  sister 
states,  the  convention  yielded  their  assent  to  the  ratification, 
they  gave  the  most  unequivocal  proofs  that  they  dreaded  its 
operation  under  the  present  form. 

"In  acceding  to  a  government  under  this  impression,  painful 
must  have  been  the  prospect,  had  they  not  derived  consolation 
from  a  full  expectation  of  its  imperfections  being  speedily 
amended.  In  this  resource,  therefore,  they  placed  their  confi 
dence — a  confidence  that  will  continue  to  support  them,  while 
they  have  reason  to  believe  they  have  not  calculated  upon  it  in 
vain. 

"In  making  known  to  you  the  objections  of  the  people  of 
this  commonwealth  to  the  new  plan  of  government,  we  deem  \ 
unnecessary  to  enter  into  a  particular  detail  of  its  defects,  which 
they  consider  as  involving  all  the  great  and  unalienable  right 
of  freemen:  For  their  sense  on  this  subject,  we  refer  you  to  the 
proceedings  of  their  late  convention,  and  the  sense  of  this  gen 
eral  assembly,  as  expressed  in  their  resolutions  of  the day 

of . 

"We  think  proper,  however,  to  declare  that,  in  our  opinion- 
as  those  objections  were  not  founded  on  speculative  theory,  but 
deduced  from  principles  which  have  been  established  by  the 
melancholy  example  of  other  nations,  in  different  ages — so  they 
never  will  be  removed,  until  the  cause  itself  shall  cease  to  exist. 
The  sooner,  therefore,  the  public  apprehensions  are  quieted,  and 
the  government  is  possessed  of  the  confidence  of  the  people, 

19 


218  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

the  more  salutary  will  be  its  operations,  and  the  longer  its  du 
ration. 

"The  cause  of  amendments  we  consider  as  a  common  cause; 
and  since  concessions  have  been  made  from  political  motives, 
which  we  conceive  may  endanger  the  republic,  we  trust  that  a 
commendable  zeal  will  be  shown  for  obtaining  those  provisions, 
which  experience  has  taught  us  are  necessary  to  secure  from 
danger  the  unalienable  rights  of  human  nature. 

"The  anxiety  with  which  our  countrymen  press  for  the  ac 
complishment  of  this  important  end,  will  ill  admit  of  delay. 
The  slow  forms  of  congressional  discussion  and  recommenda 
tion,  if  indeed  they  should  ever  agree  to  any  change,  would  we 
fear  be  less  certain  of  success.  Happily  for  their  wishes,  the 
constitution  hath  presented  an  alternative,  by  submitting  the  de 
cision  to  a  convention  of  the  states.  To  this,  therefore,  we  re 
sort,  as  the  source  from  whence  they  are  to  derive  relief  from 
their  present  apprehensions. 

"We  do,  therefore,  in  behalf  of  our  constituents,  in  the  most 
earnest  and  solemn  manner,  make  this  application  to  congress, 
that  a  convention  be  immediately  called,  of  deputies  from  the 
several  states,  with  full  power  to  take  into  their  consideration 
the  defects  of  this  constitution  that  have  been  suggested  by  the 
state  conventions,  and  report  such  amendments  thereto  as  they 
shall  find  best  suited  to  promote  our  common  interests,  and  se 
cure  to  ourselves,  and  our  latest  posterity,  the  great  and  unali 
enable  rights  of  mankind." 

Draft  of  a  letter  to  Governor  Clinton  on  the  same  subject: — 

"Sin:  The  letter  from  the  convention  of  the  state  of  New- 
York  hath  been  laid  before  us  since  our  present  session.  The 
subject  which  it  contemplated  was  taken  up,  and  we  have  the 
pleasure  to  inform  you  of  the  entire  concurrence  in  sentiment, 
between  that  honourable  body  and  the  representatives  in  senate 
and  assembly  of  the  freemen  of  this  commonwealth. 

"The  propriety  of  immediately  calling  a  convention  of  the 
states,  to  take  into  consideration  the  defects  of  the  constitution 
was  admitted ;  and  in  consequence  thereof,  an  application  agreed 
to,  to  be  presented  to  the  congress,  so  soon  as  it  shall  be  con 
vened  for  the  accomplishment  of  that  important  end.  We  here 
with  transmit  to  your  excellency,  a  copy  of  this  application, 
wmcn  we  request  may  be  laid  before  your  assembly  at  their 
next  meeting.  We  take  occasion  to  express  our  most  earnest 
wishes  that  it  may  obtain  the  approbation  of  New-York,  and  of 
all  other  sister  states." 

Draft  of  a  letter  to  the  several  states  on  the  same  subject:— 

"The  freemen  of  this  commonwealth,  in  convention  assem 
bled,  having,  at  the  same  time  that  they  ratified  the  federal  con- 


PATRICK    HENRY.  219 

stitution,  expressed  a  desire  that  many  parts,  which  they  con 
sidered  as  exceptionable  parts,  should  be  amended — the  general 
assembly,  as  well  from  a  sense  of  duty  as  a  conviction  of  its 
defects,  have  thought  proper  to  take  the  earliest  measures  in 
their  power,  for  the  accomplishment  of  this  important  object. 
They  have  accordingly  agreed  upon  an  application  to  be  pre 
sented  to  the  congress,  so  soon  as  it  shall  be  assembled,  request 
ing  that  honourable  body  to  call  a  convention  of  deputies  from 
the  several  states,  to  take  the  same  into  their  consideration,  and 
report  such  amendments  as  they  shall  find  best  calculated  to 
answer  the  purpose. 

"As  we  conceive  that  all  the  good  people  of  the  United  States 
are  equally  interested  in  obtaining  those  amendments  that  have 
been  proposed,  we  trust  that  there  will  be  a  harmony  in  their 
sentiments  and  measures,  upon  this  very  interesting  subject. 
We  herewith  transmit  to  you  a  copy  of  this  application,  and 
take  the  liberty  to  subjoin  our  earnest  wishes  that  it  may  have 
your  concurrence." 

In  the  two  remaining  years  during  which  Mr.  Henry  contin 
ued  a  member  of  the  assembly,  I  find  nothing  worthy  of  par 
ticular  remark.  In  the  spring  of  seventeen  hundred  and  ninety- 
one,  he  declined  a  re-election,  with  the  purpose  of  bidding  a 
final  adieu  to  public  life:  and  although  the  tender  of  the  most 
honourable  appointments,  the  solicitations  of  his  numerous 
friends  and  admirers,  and  ultimately  his  own  wishes  conspired 
to  draw  him  from  his  retreat,  he  never  again  made  his  appear 
ance  in  a  public  character. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Mr.  Henry  continues  the  Practice  of  the  Law— Case  of  "  the  British  Debts" 
— Uncommon  Interest  elicited  to  hear  Mr.  Henry  on  this  Case — His  Speech 
— Mode  of  answering  opposing  Counsel — Sketch  of  Him  in  his  professional 
Character — His  Defence  of  the  Son  of  Dr.  Holland  on  his  Trial  for  Murder 
— Anecdote  of  the  Caee  of  John  Hook— He  bids  a  final  Adieu  to  his  Profes 
sion  in  1794. 

MR.  HENRY  still  continued,  however,  rather  through  neces 
sity  than  choice,  the  practice  of  the  law  :  and  in  the  fall  of  this 
year,  seventeen  hundred  and  ninety-one,  a  cause  came  on  to 
be  argued  before  the  circuit  court  of  the  United  States,  in  which 
he  made  what  has  been  considered  his  most  distinguished  dis-; 
play  of  professional  talents.  This  was  the  celebrated  case  of 


S20  WIRT'B  LIFB  OF 

the  British  debts  ;  a  case  in  which,  from  its  great  and  extern 
sive  interest,  the  whole  power  of  the  bar  of  Virginia  was  em-1 
barked,  and  which  was  discussed  with  so  much  learning,  argu 
ment,  and  eloquence,  as  to  have  placed  that  bar,  in  the  estima 
tion  of  the  federal  judges,  (if  the  reports  of  the  day  may  be 
accredited,)  above  all  others  in  the  United  States. 

The  cause  was  argued  first  in  seventeen  hundred  and  ninety- 
one,  before  Judges  Johnson  and  Blair,  of  the  supreme  court, 
and  Griffin,  judge  of  the  district ;  and  afterward  in  seventeen 
hundred  and  ninety-three,  before  Judges  Jay  and  Iredell,  and 
the  same  district  judge.  Mr.  Henry  was  one  of  the  counsel 
for  the  defendant,  and  argued  the  dause  on  both  occasions. 
The  deep  interest  of  the  question,  in  a  national  pioint  of  view, 
and  the  manner  in  which  it  involved  more  particularly  the 
honour  of  the  state  of  Virginia,  and  the  fortunes  of  her  citi 
zens,  had  excited  Mr.  Henry  to  a  degree  of  preparation  which 
he  had  never  before  made  ;  and  he  came  forth,  on  this  occasion, 
a  perfect  master  of  every  principle  of  law,  national  and  muni 
cipal,  which  touched  the  subject  of  investigation  in  the  most 
distant  point. 

Of  the  first  argument,  a  manuscript  report  is  still  extant,  ta 
ken  in  shorthand  by  Mr.  Robertson,  the  same  gentleman  who 
reported  the  debates  of  the  convention  of  Virginia  in  sevenj 
teen  hundred  and  eighty-eight.  The  second  argument  was  not 
reported ;  because,  as  Mr.  Robertson  states,  he  was  informed 
by  the  counsel,  that  it  would  be  nothing  more  than  a  repetition 
of  the  first;  and  he  adds,  that  he  was  afterward  told  it  was 
much  inferior.  "What  must  we  conclude,  then,  as  to  the  pow 
ers  displayed  by  Mr.  Henry  in  the  first  argument,  when,  in  the 
course  of  the  second  and  inferior  one,  he  extorted  from  Judge 
Iredell,  as  he  sat  on  the  bench,  the  exclamation: — "Gracious 
God! — He  ts  an  orator  indeed!" 

T^he  report  of  the  first  argument,  as  deciphered  by  Mr.  Rob 
ertson,  from  his  stenographic  notes,  has  been  obligingly  sub 
mitted  to  the  author  of  these  sketches,  and  he  has  extracted 
from  it  an  imperfect  analysis  of  Mr.  Henry's  speech.  The  re 
port  may  Unquestionably  be  relied  on,  so  far  as  it  professes  to 
state  the  principles  of  law,  and  the  substance  of  the  arguments 
urged  by  the  very  eminent  counsel  engaged  in  the  cause ;  arid 
in  this  point  of  view,  it  is  to  be  lamented  that  so  valuable  a 
work  should  Still  exist  only  in  the  form  of  a  manuscript.  But, 
as  a  sample  of  Mr.  Henry's  peculiar  and  inimitable  eloquence, 
U  is  subject  to  all  the  objections  which  have  been  already  urged 
to  the  printed  debates  of  the  Virginia  convention. 

This  manuscript  report  bears  upon  its  face  the  most  con 
clusive  proof  of  it*  inaccuracy  in  those  passages  in  which  it 


PATRICK    HENRY.  223 

attempts  to  exhibit  either  the  captivating  flights  of  Mr,  Hen 
ry's  fancy,  or  those  unexpected  and  overwhelming  assaults 
which  he  made  upon  the  hearts  of  his  judges  ;  for  in  all  such 
passages,  (it  is  believed,  without  an  exception,)  the  pen  has 
been  drawn  through  the  sentence  as  originally  written,  in  such 
a  manner,  however,  as  to  leave  the  words  still  legible ;  while 
the  same  thought,  or  something  like  it,  has  been  interlined  in 
other  words  ;  and  even  the  interlineations  themselves  are  of- 
tener  than  otherwise  erased,  altered,  and  farther  interlined,  for 
the  purpose  of  seeking  to  amend  the  expression :  so  that,  in 
casting  one's  eyes  over  the  manuscript  report  of  Mr.  Henry's 
speech,  in  order  to  single  out  the  most  brilliant  passages,  those 
which  are  the  most  blotted  and  blurred  by  erasures  and  inter 
lineations  may  be  selected  at  once,  without  the  hazard  of  mis 
take.  Hence,  it  is  obvious,  that  the  reporter  had  not  in  his 
stenographic  notes,  the  very  expression  of  the  speaker;  but 
some  hint  merely  of  the  thought,  which  he  was  afterward  un 
able  to  fill  up  to  his  own  satisfaction.  If  farther  evidence  on 
this  subject  were  required,  it  is  found  in  this  circumstance  :  that, 
on  reading  Mr.  Robertson's  imitations  of  the  splendid  parts 
of  Mr.  Henry's  speech  to  several  of  those  who  heard  it  deliv 
ered,  there  has  not  been  one  who  has  not  turned  off  from  the 
recital  with  the  strongest  expressions  of  disappointment,  and 
in  several  instances  corrected  by  memory  the  language  of  the 
reporter. 

This  explanation  is  equally  due  to  the  memory  of  Mr.  Henry, 
to  the  reader,  and  the  author ;  for  the  author  is  fully  aware, 
that  if  the  truth  of  the  general  character  which  he  has  attempt 
ed  to  give  of  Mr.  Henry's  eloquence  shall  be  tested  by  those 
imperfect  specimens  to  which,  for  want  of  more  accurate  ones, 
he  has  been  compelled  to  resort,  discredit  will  be  thrown  upon 
the  whole  work,  and  it  will  be  regarded  rather  as  romance  than 
history.  But  the  ingenuous  and  candid  reader  will  look  be 
yond  those  poor  and  wretched  imitations,  and  my  own  equally 
poor  and  wretched  descriptions,  to  that  proof  of  Mr.  Henry's 
eloquence  which  is  furnished  by  its  practical  effects.  Can 
there  be  any  doubt  of  the  supreme  eloquence  of  that  man 
who  awakened  and  hushed  at  his  pleasure,  "  the  stormy  wave 
of  the  multitude  ?"  who,  by  his  powers  of  speech,  roused  the 
whole  American  people  from  north  to  south  ?  put  the  revolu 
tion  into  motion,  and  bore  it  upon  his  shoulder,  as  Atlas  is  said 
to  do  the  heavens?  to  whose  charms  of  persuasion,  not  the 
rabble  merely,  but  all  ranks  of  society,  have  borne  the  most 
unanimous  evidence  ?  who  moved  not  merely  the  populace,  the 
rocks,  and  stones  of  the  field,  but,  "by  the  summit  took  the 
mountain-oak,  and  made  him  stoop  to  the  ulain  ?" 

19* 


222  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

Instead,  then,  of  comparing  our  descriptions  of  Mr.  HenryV 
eloquence  with  the  specimens  which  his  reporters  have  made 
of  it,  let  the  reader  compare  that  description  with  the  effects 
which  it  actually  wrought,  and  the  universal  testimony  which 
is  borne  to  it,  by  the  rapturous  admiration  of  every  one  who 
ever  had  the  happiness  to  hear  him  ;  and  the  author  so  far  from 
being  afraid  of  the  charge  of  exaggeration,  will  be  apprehen-1 
sive  only  of  that  of  presumption,  in  attempting  a  description  of 
powers  so  perfectly  undescribable. 

But  to  return  to  his  argument  in  the  case  of  the  British  debts* 
In  order  to  render  intelligible  the  analysis  which  we  propose 
to  give  to  the  reader,  it  will  be  necessary  to  prefix  to  it  a  state 
ment  of  the  case,  of  the  pleadings,  and  the  points  made  in  ar 
gument,  by  the  opening  counsel. 

William  Jones,  a  British  subject,  as  surviving  partner  of  the 
mercantile  house  of  Farrell  and  Jones,  brought  an  action  of 
debt  in  the  federal  circuit  court  at  Richmond,  against  Doc 
tor  Thomas  Walker,  of  the  county  of  Albemarle,  in  Virginia* 
on  a  bond  which  bore  date  before  the  revolutionary  war ;  to 
wit,  on  the  eleventh  of  May,  seventeen  hundred  and  seventy- 
two.  To  this  action  the  defendant  pleaded  five  several 
pleas  : — 

1.  The  first  was,  the  plea  of  payment  generally,  on  which 
the  plaintiff  took  issue; ;  but  it  was  not  tried,  the  cause  having 
gone   off  on  the    demurrers   growing  out   of  the  subsequent 
pleadings. 

2.  In  his  second  pHaa,  the  defendant  relies  on  the  act  of  se 
questration,  passed  by  the  legislature  of  Virginia  during  the 
revolutionary  war,  to  wit,  on  the  twentieth  of  October,  seven 
teen  hundred  and  seventy-seven;  by  which  it  was  enacted,  that 
*'it  should  be  lawful  for  any  citizen  of  this  commonwealth,  ow 
ing  money  to  a  subject  of  Great  Britain,  to  pay  the  same,  or  any 
part  thereof,  from  tirm^  to  time,  as  he  should  think  fit,  into  the 
loan  office  of  the  state;  taking  thereout  a  certificate  for  the  same 
in  the  name  of  the  creditor,  with  an  endorsement  under  the  hand 
of  the  comrriissioner  of  the  loan  office,  expressing  the  name  of 
the  payee,  delivering  sir.ch  certificate  to  the  governor  and  coun* 
cil,  whose  r  eceipt  should  discharge  Kim  from  so  much  of  the 
debt:" — and  the  defendant  exhibits  the  governor's  receipt  for 
two  thousar  id  one  hundred  and  fifty-one  pounds  and  eighteen 
shillings,  w  hich  he  offers  in  bar  to  so  much  of  the  plaintiffs 
demand. 

3.  In  his  third  plea,  he  sets  out  the  act  of  forfeiture,  passed 
by  the  assc  imbly  on  the  third  of  May,  seventeen  hundred  and 
Seventy-nin  .e,  whereby  it  was,  among  other  things,  enacted) 
""that  all  t  he  property,  real  and  person*!,  within  the  common* 


PATRICK    HENRY.  223 

wealth,  belonging  at  that  time  to  any  British  subject,  should  be 
deemed  to  be  vested  in  the  commonwealth;"  as  also  the  act  of 
the  sixth  of  May,  seventeen  hundred  and  eighty-two,  whereby 
it  was  enacted,  "that  no  demand  whatsoever,  originally  due  to 
a  subject  of  Great  Britain,  should  he  recoverable  in  any  court 
of  this  commonwealth,  although  the  same  might  be  transferred 
to  a  citizen  of  this  state,  or  to  any  other  person  capable  of  main 
taining  such  action,  unless  the  assignment  had  been  or  might  be 
made  fora  valuable  consideration  bona fide  paid  before  the  first 
of  May,  seventeen  hundred  and  seventy-seven:"  and  the  plea 
insists  that  the  debt,  in  the  declaration  mentioned,  was  personal 
property  of  a  British  subject,  forfeited  to  the  commonwealth 
under  the  first-mentioned  act,  and  a  demand,  whose  recovery  in 
the  courts  of  the  commonwealth  was  barred  by  the  .last. 

4.  The  fourth  plea  takes  the  ground,  that  the  king  of  Britain 
and  his  subjects  were  still  alien  enemies,  and  that  the  state  of 
\var  still  continued,  on  the  ground  of  the  several  direct  viola* 
lions  of  the  definitive  treaty  of  peace,  which  follow: — 

First,  in  continuing  to  carry  off  the  negroes  in  his  possession, 
the  properly  of  American  citizens,  and  refusing  to  deliver  them, 
or  permit  the  owners  to  take  them,  according  to  the  express 
stipulations  of  that  treaty: — 

Secondly,  in  the  forcible  retention  of  the  forts  Niagara  and 
Detroit,  and  the  adjacent  territory: — 

Thirdly,  in  supplying  the  Indians,  who  were  at  war  with  the 
United  States,  with  arms  and  ammunition,  furnished  within  the 
territories  of  the  United  States,  to  wit,  at  the  forts  Detroit  and 
Niagara,  and  at  other  forts  and  stations  forcibly  held  by  the 
troops  and  armies  of  the  king,  within  the  United  States;  and  in 
purchasing  from  the  Indians,  within  the  territories  aforesaid,  the 
plunder  taken  by  them  in  war  from  the  United  States,  and  the 
persons  of  American  citizens  made  prisoners;  which  several 
infractions,  the  plea  contends,  had  abolished  the  treaty  of  peace, 
and  placed  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  in  a  state  of  war ; 
and  that  hence,  the  plaintiff,  being  an  alien  enemy,  had  no  right 
to  sue  in  the  courts  of  the  United  States. 

5.  The  fifth  plea  sets  forth,  that  at  the  time  of  contracting  the 
debt  in  the  declaration  mentioned,  the  plaintiff  and  the  defend 
ant  were  fellow-subjects  of  the  same  king  and  government:  that 
'on  the  fourth  of  July,  seventeen  hundred  and  seventy-six,  the 
government  of  the  British  monarch  in  this  country  was  dissolved, 
and  the  coallegiance  of  the  parties  severed;  whereby  the  plea 
tontends,  that  the  debt  in  the  declaration  mentioned  was  annulled. 

To  the  second  plea  the  plaintiff  replied,  insisting  on  the  treaty 
of  peace  of  seventeen  hundred  and  eighty-three,  whereby  it  was 
stipulated,  that  creditors  0n  either  side  should  meet  with  no 


224  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

lawful  impediment  to  the  recovery  of  the  full  value,  in  sterling 
money,  of  all  bona  fide  debts  theretofore  contracted ;  and  also 
on  the  constitution  of  the  United  States  of  seventeen  hundred 
and  eighty-seven,  by  which  it  had  been  expressly  declared,  that 
treaties  which  were  then  made,  or  which  should  thereafter  be 
made,  under  the  authority  of  the  United  States,  should  be  the 
supreme  law  of  the  land,  anything  in  the  constitution,  or  the 
laws  of  any  state,  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding. 

The  defendant  rejoined,  that  the  treaty  had  been  annulled  by 
the  infractions  of  it  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain,  and  so  could 
not  aid  the  cause  of  the  plaintiff;  arid  farther,  that  the  debt  in 
the  declaration  mentioned  was  not  bona  fide  due,  and  owing  to 
the  plaintiff  at  the  date  of  the  treaty,  insomuch  as  the  same  (or 
at  least  two  thousand  one  hundred  and  fifty-one  pounds  and 
eighteen  shillings  of  it)  had  been  discharged  by  the  payment  set 
forth  in  the  second  plea;  and  hence,  that  it  was  not  a  subsisting 
debt,  within  the  terms  and  provisions  of  the  treaty. 

To  this  rejoinder,  as  also  to  the  third,  fourth,  and  fifth  pleas 
of  the  defendant,  the  plaintiff  demurred;  and  the  cause  came  on 
to  be  argued,  on  these  demurrers,  at  Richmond,  on  the  twenty- 
fourth  of  November,  seventeen  hundred  and  ninety-one. 

The  Virginian  reader  will  readily  estimate  the  splendour  and 
power  of  the  discussion  in  this  case,  when  he  learns  the  names 
of  the  counsel  engaged  in  it;  on  the  part  of  the  plaintiff,  then, 
were  Mr.  Ronald,  Mr.  Baker,  Mr.  Wickham,  and  Mr.  Starke; 
and  on  that  of  the  defendant,  Mr.  Henry,  Mr.  Marshall,  (af 
terward  chief  justice  of  the  United  States,)  Mr.  Alexander  Camp 
bell,  and  Mr.  Innis,  the  attorney-general  of  Virginia:  I  mention 
their  names  in  the  order  in  which  they  spoke  on  their  respective 
sides. 

The  cause  was  opened  with  great  fairness  and  ability,  by  Mr. 
Ronald  and  Mr.  Baker,  in  succession;  they  were  answered  by 
all  the  counsel  of  the  defendant;  and  Mr.  Wickham,  Mr.  Starke, 
and  Mr.  Baker,  were  heard  in  the  reply.  The  opening  counsel 
made  the  following  points: — 

First,  that  debts  were  not  a  subject  of  confiscation  in  war. 

Secondly,  that  if  they  were,  Virginia,  at  the  time  of  passing 
the  acts  relied  on  by  the  defendant,  was  not  a  sovereign  and  in 
dependent  state,  Great  Britain  not  having  at  that  time  assented 
to  her  independence;  and  hence,  that  she  had  not  the  power  of 
legislating  away  the  debts  of  fellow-subjects  not  represented  in 
her  legislative  councils — which  councils,  were  themselves  a 
usurpation  in  the  eye  of  the  law. 

Thirdly,  that  if  debts  were  subject  to  confiscation,  and  Vir 
ginia  were  competent  to  pass  laws  to  that  effect,  she  had  not 
done  so;  and  Mr.  Baker  particularly  entered  into  a  minute  and 


f.  PATRICK    HENRY.  225 

Ingenious  scrutiny  of  the  language  of  the  several  acts  of  as 
sembly,  to  prove  that,  so  far  from  having  been  forfeited*  the 
debts  were  recognised  as  existing  British  debts  down  to  the  year 
seventeen  hundred  and  eighty-two. 

Fourthly,  that  if  all  these  points  were  against  the  plaintiff, 
the  right  of  recovering  those  debts  was  restored  by  the  treaty 
of  seventeen  hundred  and  eighty-three,  and  the  constitution  ot 
the  United  States,  which  recognised  that  treaty  as  the  supreme 
law  of  the  land;  and, 

Fifthly,  that  the  alleged  infractions  of  the  treaty  on  the  part 
of  Great  Britain  did  not  produce  the  effect  of  abolishing  the 
treaty;  that  this  was  a  national  concern,  with  which  the  indi 
vidual  plaintiff  and  defendant  had  nothing  to  do;  that  the  ques 
tion  of  infraction  was  one  to  be  decided  by  the  supreme  power 
of  the  nation  only,  and  one  of  which  the  court  could  not,  with 
any  propriety,  take  cognizance. 

Mr.  Baker  closed  his  opening  speech  on  Thursday  evening, 
the  twenty-fourth  of  November,  and  it  was  publicly  understood 
that  Mr.  Henry  was  to  commence  his  reply  on  the  next  day. 
The  legislature  was  then  in  session;  but  when  eleven  o'clock, 
the  hour  for  the  meeting  of  the  court,  arrived,  the  speaker  found 
himself  without  a  house  to  do  business.  All  his  authority  and 
that  of  his  sergeant-at-arms  were  unavailing  to  keep  the  mem 
bers  in  their  seats;  every  consideration  of  public  duty  yielded 
to  the  anxiety  which  they  felt,  in  common  with  the  rest  of  their 
fellow-citizens,  to  hear  this  great  man  on  this  truly  great  and 
extensively-interesting  question. 

Accordingly,  when  the  court  was  ready  to  proceed  to  business, 
the  court-room  of  the  capital,  large  as  it  is,  was  insufficient  to 
contain  the  vast  concourse  that  was  pressing  to  enter  it.  The 
portico,  and  the  area  in  which  the  statue  of  Washington  stands, 
were  filled  with  a  disappointed  crowd,  who,  nevertheless,  main 
tained  their  stand  without.  In  the  court-room  itself,  the  judges 
through  condescension  to  the  public  anxiety,  relaxed  the  rigour 
of  respect  which  they  were  in  the  habit  of  exacting,  and  per 
mitted  the  vacant  seats  of  the  bench,  and  even  the  windows  be 
hind  it,  to  be  occupied  by  the  impatient  multitude.  The  noise 
and  tumult,  occasioned  by  seeking  a  more  favourable  station, 
were  at  length  hushed,  and  the  profound  silence  which  reigned 
Within  the  room  gave  notice  to  those  without,  that  the  orator 
had  risen,  or  was  on  the  point  of  rising. 

Every  eye  in  front  of  the  bar  was  riveted  upon  him  with  the 
most  eager  attention;  and  so  still  and  deep  was  the  silence,  that 
every  one  might  hear  the  throbbing  of  his  own  heart.  Mr. 
Henry,  however,  appeared  wholly  unconscious  that  all  this  prep 
aration  was  on  his  account,  and  rose  with  as  much  simplicity 


236  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

and  composure,  as  if  the  occasion  had  been  one  of  ordinary  oc 
currence.  Nothing  can  be  more  plain,  modest,  and  unaffected, 
than  his  exordium: — "I  stand  here,  may  it  please  your  honours, 
to  support,  according  to  my  power,  that  side  of  the  question 
which  respects  the  American  debtor. 

"I  beg  leave  to  beseech  the  patience  of  this  honourable  court; 
because  the  subject  is  very  great  and  important,  and  because  I 
have  not  only  the  greatness  of  the  subject  to  consider,  but  those 
numerous  observations  which  have  come  from  the  opposing 
counsel  to  answer.  Thus,  therefore,  the  matter  proper  for  my 
discussion  is  unavoidably  accumulated.  Sir,  there  is  a  circum 
stance  in  this  case,  that  is  more  to  be  deplored  than  that  which 
I  have  just  mentioned,  and  that  is  this:  those  animosities  which 
the  injustice  of  the  British  nation  hath  produced,  arid  which  I 
had  well  hoped  would  never  again  be  the  subject  of  discussion, 
are  necessarily  brought  forth. 

"The  conduct  of  that  nation,  which  bore  so  hard  upon  us  in 
the  late  contest,  becomes  once  more  the  subject  of  investigation. 
I  know,  sir,  how  well  it  becomes  a  liberal  man  and  a  Christian 
to  forget  and  to  forgive.  As  individuals  professing  a  holy  reli 
gion,  it  is  our  bounden  duty  to  forgive  injuries  done  us  as  indi 
viduals.  But  when  to  the  character  of  Christian  you  add  the 
character  of  patriot,  you  are  in  a  different  situation.  Our  mild 
and  holy  system  of  religion  inculcates  an  admirable  maxim  of 
forbearance.  If  your  enemy  smite  one  cheek,  turn  the  other  to 
him.  But  you  must  stop  there.  You  cannot  apply  this  to  your 
country.  As  members  of  a  social  community,  this  maxim  does 
not  apply  to  you.  When  you  consider  injuries  done  to  your 
country,  your  political  duty  tells  you  of  vengeance.  Forgive 
as  a  private  man,  but  never  forgive  public  injuries.  Observa 
tions  of  this  nature  are  exceedingly  unpleasant,  but  it  is  my 
duty  to  use  them." 

With  the  same  primeval  simplicity,  he  enters  upon  the  argu 
ment;  not  making  a  formal  division  of  the  whole  subject,  but 
merely  announcing  the  single  proposition  which  he  was  about 
to  maintain  for  the  time;  thus,  immediately  after  the  exordium 
which  has  been  quoted  he  proceeds  thus: — 

"The  first  point  which  I  shall  endeavour  to  establish  will  be, 
that  debts  in  common  wars  become  subject  to  forfeiture;  and  if 
forfeited  in  common  wars,  much  more  must  they  be  so  in  a  rev 
olution  war,  as  the  late  contest  was.  In  considering  this  sub 
ject,  it  will  be  necessary  to  define  what  a  debt  is.  I  mean  by  it 
an  engagement,  or  promise,  by  one  man  to  pay  another,  for  a 
valuable  consideration,  an  adequate  price.  By  a  contract  thus 
made,  for  a  valuable  consideration,  there  arises  what,  in  the  law 
phrase,  is  called  a  Hen  on  the  body  and  goods  of  the  promissor 


PATRICK    HENRY.  227 

or  debtor.  This  interest,  which  the  creditor  becomes  entitled 
to,  in  the  goods  and  body  of  his  debtor,  is  such  as  may  be  taken 
from  the  creditor,  if  he  be  found  the  subject  of  a  hostile  country. 

''This  position  is  supported  by  the  following  authorities." 
He  then  cites  and  reads  copious  extracts  from  Grotius  and  Vat- 
tel,  which  seem  to  support  his  pbsition  decisively — and  then 
proceeds  thus: — "This  authority  decides  in  the  most  clear  and 
satisfactory  manner,  that,  as  a  nation,  we  had  powers  as  exten 
sive  and  unlimited  as  any  nation  on  earth.  This  great  writer, 
after  stating  the  equality  and  independence  of  nations,  and  who 
are,  and  who  are  not  enemies,  does  away  the  distinction  between 
corporeal  and  incorporeal  rights,  and  declares  that  war  gives 
the  same  right  over  the  debts,  as  over  the  other  goods  of  an 
enemy. 

"He  illustrates  his  doctrine  by  the  instance  of  Alexander's 
remitting  to  the  Thessalians,  a  debt  due  by  them  to  the  Theban 
commonwealth:  this  is  a  case  in  point — for  supposing  the  sub 
jects  of  Alexander  had  been  indebted  to  the  Thebans,  might  he 
not  have  remitted  the  debts  due  by  them  to  that  people,  as  well 
as  the  debts  due  them  by  his  allies,  the  Thessalians?  Let  me 
not  be  told  that  he  was  entitled  to  the  goods  of  the  Thebans, 
because  he  had  conquered  them.  If  he  could  remit  a  debt  due 
by  those  whose  claim  of  friendship  was  so  inferior,  those  who 
were  only  attached  to  him  by  the  feeble  ties  of  contingent  and 
temporary  alliance — if  his  Macedonians,  his  immediate  and  nat 
ural  subjects,  were  indebted  to  the  Thebans,  could  he  not  have 
remitted  their  debts? 

"This  author  states,  in  clear,  unequivocal  terms,  by  fair  in 
ference  and  unavoidable  deduction,  that  when  two  nations  are 
at  war,  either  nation  has  a  right,  according  to  the  laws  of  nature 
and  nations,  to  remit  to  its  own  citizens  debts  which  they  may 
owe  to  the  enemy.  If  this  point  wanted  further  elucidation,  it 
is  pointedly  proved  by  the  authority  which  I  first  quoted  from 
Grotius,  that  it  is  an  inseparable  concomitant  of  sovereign  pow 
er,  that  debts  and  contracts  similar  to  those  which  existed  in 
America,  at  the  time  the  war  with  Great  Britain  broke  out,  may, 
in  virtue  of  the  eminent  domain,  or  right,  be  cancelled  and 
destroyed. 

"*A  king  has  a  greater  right  in  the  goods  of  his  subjects, 
for  the  public  advantage,  than  the  proprietors  themselves. 
And  when  the  exigency  of  the  state  requires  a  supply,  every 
man  is  more  obliged  to  contribute  toward  it,  than  to  satisfy  his 
creditors.  The  sovereign  may  discharge  a  debtor  from  the  ob 
ligation  of  paying,  either  for  a  certain  time,  or  for  ever  * 
What  language  can  be  more  expressive  than  this?  Can  the 
mind  of  man  conceive  anything  more  comprehensive? 


WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

"Rights  are  of  two  sorts,  private  and  inferior,  or  eminent  and 
superior,  such  as  the  community  hold  over  the  persons  and  es 
tates  of  its  members  for  the  common  benefit.  The  latter  is  par 
amount  to  the  former.  A  king  or  chief  of  a  nation  has  a 
greater  right  than  the  owner  himself  over  any  property  in  the 
nation.  The  individual  who  owns  private  property  cannot  dis 
pose  of  it,  contrary  to  the  will  of  his  sovereign,  to  injure  the 
public.  This  author  is  known  to  be  no  advocate  for  tyranny, 
yet  he  mentions  that  a  king  has  a  superior  power  over  the  prop 
erty  in  his  nation,  and  that  by  virtue  thereof,  he  may  discharge 
his  subjects  for  ever  from  debts  which  they  owe  to  an  enemy. 

"The  instance  which  our  author  derives  from  the  Roman  his* 
tory,  affords  a  striking  instance  of  the  length  to  which  the  ne 
cessities  and  exigencies  of  a  nation  will  warrant  it  to  go.  It 
was  a  juncture  critical  to  the  Roman  affairs.  But  their  situation 
was  not  more  critical  or  dangerous  than  ours  at  the  time  these 
debts  were  confiscated.  It  was  after  the  total  defeat  and  dread 
ful  slaughter  at  Cannae,  when  the  state  was  in  the  most  imminent 
danger.  Our  situation  in  the  late  war  was  equally  perilous. 
Every  consideration  must  give  way  to  the  public  safety. 

"That  admirable  Roman  maxim,  salus  populi  suprema  lex, 
governed  that  people  in  every  emergency.  It  is  a  maxim  that 
ought  to  govern  every  community.  It  was  not  peculiar  to  the 
Roman  people.  The  impression  came  from  the  same  source 
from  which  we  derive  our  existence.  Self-preservation,  that 
great  dictate  implanted  in  us  by  nature,  must  regulate  our  con-, 
duct;  we  must  have  a  power  to  act  according  to  our  necessities, 
and  it  remains  for  human  judgment  to  decide  what  are  the  prop 
er  occasions  for  the  exercise  of  this  power.  Call  to  your  rec 
ollection  our  situation  during  the  late  arduous  contest.  Was 
it  not  necessary  in  our  day  of  trial,  to  go  to  the  last  iota  of  hu 
man  right?  The  Romans  fought  for  their  altars  and  household 
gods.  By  these  terms  they  meant  everything  dear  and  valuable 
to  men.  Was  not  our  stake  as  important  as  theirs? 

"But  many  other  nations  engage  in  the  most  bloody  wars  for 
the  most  trivial  and  frivolous  causes.  If  other  nations  who  car-, 
ried  on  wars  for  a  mere  point  of  honour,  or  a  punctilio  of  gal 
lantry,  were  warranted  in  the  exercise  of  this  power,  were  not 
we,  who  fought  for  everything  most  inestimable  and  valuable  to 
mankind,  justified  in  using  it?  Our  finances  were  in  a  more 
distressing  situation  than  theirs  at  this  awful  period  of  our  ex^ 
isterice.  Our  war  was  in  opposition  to  the  most  grievous  op 
pression — we  resisted,  and  our  resistance  was  approved  amj 
blessed  by  Heaven. 

"The  most  illustrious  men  who  have  considered  human  af 
fairs,  when  they  have  revolved  human  rights,  and  considered 


PATRICK    HENRY.  229 

how  far  a  nation  is  warranted  to  act  in  cases  of  emergency,  de 
clare  that  the  only  ingredient  essential  to  the  rectitude  and  va 
lidity  of  its  measures  is,  that  they  be  for  the  public  good.  I 
need  hardly  observe  that  the  confiscation  of  the.se  debts  was  for 
the  public  good.  Those  who  decided  it  were  constitutionally 
enabled  to  determine  it.  Grotius  shows  that  you  have  not  only 
power  over  the  goods  of  your  enemies,  but  according  to  the 
exigency  of  affairs,  you  may  seize  the  property  of  your  citizens." 
After  reading  the  apposite  passage  from  Grotius,  he  says: — 
«*I  read  these  authorities  to  prove,  that  the  property  of  an  enemy 
is  liable  to  forfeiture,  and  that  debts  are  as  much  the  subject  of 
hostile  contest  as  tangible  property.  And  Vattel,  page  484,  as 
before  mentioned,  pointedly  enumerates  rights  and  debts  among 
such  property  of  the  enemy  as  is  liable  to  confiscation.  To  this 
last  author  I  must  frequently  resort  in  the  course  of  my  argu 
ment.  I  put  great  confidence  in  him,  from  the  weight  of  his 
authority — for  he  is  universally  respected  by  all  the  wise  and 
enlightened  of  mankind,  being  no  less  celebrated  for  his  great 
judgment  and  knowledge,  than  for  his  universal  philanthropy. 
One  of  his  first  principles  of  the  law  of  nations  is,  a  perfect 
equality  of  rights  among  nations;  that  each  nation  ought  to  be 
left  in  the  peaceable  enjoyment  of  that  liberty  it  has  derived 
from  nature. 

"I  refer  your  honours  to  his  preliminary  discourse  from  6th 
to  the  12lh  page;  and  as  it  will  greatly  elucidate  the  subject, 
and  tend  to  prove  the  position  I  have  attempted  to  support,  I 
will  read  sections  17,  18,  19,  and  20,  of  this  discourse."  Hav 
ing  read  these  sections,  he  touches  transiently,  but  powerfully, 
the  objection  to  the  want  of  national  independence  to  pass  the 
laws  of  forfeiture,  till  that  independence  was  assented  to  by  the 
king  of  Great  Britain.  "When  the  war  commenced,"  said  he, 
"  these  things,  called  British  debts,  lost  their  quality  of  external 
obligation,  and  became  matters  of  internal  obligation,  because 
the  creditors  had  no  right  of  constraint  over  the  debtors.  They 
were  before  the  war,  matters  of  perfect  external  obligation,  ac 
companied  by  a  right  of  constraint;  but  the  war  having  taken 
away  this  right  of  constraint  over  the  debtors,  they  were  changed 
into  an  internal  obligation,  binding  the  conscience  only.  For 
it  will  not  surelv  be  denied,  that  the  creditor  lost  the  right  of 
constraint  over  his  debtor. 

"From  the  authority  of  this  respectable  author,  therefore 

from  the  clearest  principles  of  the  laws  of  nature  and  nations, 
these  debts  became  subject  to  forfeiture  or  remission.  Those 
authors  state,  in  language  as  emphatic  and  nervous  as  the  human 
mind  can  conceive,  or  the  human  tongue  can  utter,  that  inde 
pendent  nations  have  the  power  of  confiscating  the  property  of 


230  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

their  enemies;  and  so  had  this  gallant  nation.  America,  being 
a  sovereign  and  complete  nation,  in  all  its  forms  and  depart 
ments,  possessed  all  the  rights  of  the  most  powerful  and  ancient 
nations.  Respecting  the  power  of  legislation,  it  was  a  nation 
complete,  and  without  human  control.  Respecting  public  jus 
tice,  it  was  a  nation  blessed  by  Heaven,  with  the  experience  of 
past  times;  not  like  those  nations,  whose  crude  systems  of  ju 
risprudence  originated  in  the  ages  of  barbarity  and  ignorance 
of  human  rights. 

"America  was  a  sovereign  nation,  when  her  sons  stepped 
forth  to  resist  the  unjust  hand  of  oppression,  and  declared  them 
selves  independent.  The  consent  of  Great  Britain  was  not  ne 
cessary  (as  the  gentlemen  on  the  other  side  urge)  to  create  us 
a  nation.  Yes,  sir,  we  were  a  nation,  long  before  the  monarch 
of  that  little  island  in  the  Atlantic  ocean  gave  his  puny  assent 
to  it." — These  words  he  accompanied  by  a  most  significant, 
gesture — rising  on  tiptoe — pointing  as  to  a  vast  distance,  and 
half-closing  his  eyelids,  as  if  endeavouring  with  extreme  diffi 
culty,  to  draw  a  sight  on  some  object  almost  too  small  for  vision 
— arid  blowing  out  the  words  puny  assent,  with  lips  curled  with 
unutterable  contempt. — 

"America  was,  long  before  that  time,  a  great  and  gallant  na 
tion.  In  the  estimation  of  other  nations  we  were  so:  the  be 
neficent  hand  of  Heaven  enabled  her  to  triumph,  and  secured 
to  her  the  most  sacred  rights  mortals  can  enjoy.  When  these 
illustrious  authors,  these  friends  to  human  nature,  these  kind 
instructers  of  human  errors  and  frailties,*  contemplate  the  ob 
ligations  and  corresponding  rights  of  nations,  and  define  the  in 
ternal  right,  which  is  without  constraint  and  not  binding,  do 
they  not  understand  such  rights  as  these,  which  the  British 
creditors  now  claim?  Here  this  man  tells  us  what  conscienee 
says  ought  to  be  done,  and  what  is  compulsory.  These  British 
debts  must  come  within  the  grasp  of  human  power,  like  all  other 
human  things.  They  ceased  to  have  that  external  quality,  and 
fell  into  that  mass  of  power  which  belonged  to  our  legislature 
by  the  law  of  nations." 

He  comes  now  to  a  very  serious  obstacle,  which  it  required 
both  address  and  vigour  to  remove.  Vatic),  whom  he  had 
cited  to  support  his  position  of  the  forfeitable  character  of 
debts,  and  who,  so  far  as  Mr.  Henry  had  read  him,  does  sup 
port  him  explicitly,  annexes  a  qualification  to  the  principle, 
which  had  been  pressed  with  great  power  by  the  gentlemen, 
who  opened  the  cause.  The  curiosity  of  the  reader  will  be> 
gratified  by  seeing  the  manner  in  which  he  surmounted  the: 

*  In  the  second  argument,  he  eulogized  the  writers  on  the  laws  of  nations, 
as  "  benevolent  spirits,  who  held  up  the  torch  of  science  to  a  benighted  world..'* 


PATRICK    HENRY.  231 

objection.  "But  we  are  told,  that  admitting  this  to  be  true  in 
the  fullest  latitude,  yet  the  customary  law  of  Europe  is  against 
the  exercise  of  this  power  of  confiscation  of  debts ;  in  support 
of  which  position,  they  rely  on  what  is  added  by  Vattel,  p.  484. 

Let  us  examine  what  he  says  : — '  The  sovereign  has  naturally 
the  same  right  over  what  his  subjects  may  be  indebted  to  ene 
mies  :  therefore,  he  may  confiscate  debts  of  this  nature,  if  the 
term  of  payment  happen  in  the  time  of  war,  or  at  least  he  may 
prohibit  his  subjects  from  paying  while  the  war  lasts.  But  at 
present,  in  regard  to  the  advantage  and  safety  of  commerce,  all 
the  sovereigns  of  Europe  have  departed  from  this  rigour. 
And  as  this  custom  has  generally  been  received,  he  who  should 
act  contrary  to  it,  would  injure  the  public  faith  ;  for  strangers 
trusted  his  subjects  only,  from  a  firm  persuasion,  that  the 
general  custom  would  be  observed.' 

"Excellent  man!  and  excellent  sentiments!  The  principle 
cannot  be  denied  to  be  good  :  but  when  you  apply  it  to  the  case 
before  the  court,  does  it  warrant  their  conclusions?  The 
author  says,  that  although  a  nation  has  a  right  to  confiscate 
debts  due  by  its  people  to  an  enemy,  yet,  at  present  the  cus 
tom  of  Europe  is  contrary.  It  is  not  enough  for  this  author  to 
tell  us  that  this  custom  is  contrary  to  the  right.  He  admits 
the  right.  Let  us  see  whether  this  custom  has  existence  here. 
Vattel,  having  spoken  of  the  necessary  law  of  nations,  which 
is  immutable,  and  the  obligations  whereof  are  indispensable, 
proceeds  to  distinguish  the  several  other  kinds  of  natural  law 
in  the  same  preliminary  discourse,  pp.  11  and  12,  thus  : — 

"  •  Certain  maxims  and  customs  consecrated  by  long  use,  and 
observed  by  nations  between  each  other,  as  a  kind  of  law,  form 
this  customary  law  of  nations,  or  the  custom  of  nations.  This 
law  is  founded  on  a  tacit  consent,  or,  if  you  will,  on  a  tacit 
convention  of  the  nations  that  observe  it  with  respect  to  each 
other.  Whence,  it  appears,  that  it  is  only  binding  to  those 
nations  that  have  adopted  it,  and  that  is  not  universal,  any 
more  than  conventional  laws.  It  must  be  here  also  observed 
of  this  customary  law,  that  the  particulars  relating  to  it  do  not 
belong  to  a  systematic  treatise  on  the  law  of  nations,  but  that 
we  ought  to  confine  ourselves  to  the  giving  a  general  theory  of 
it,  that  is,  to  the  rules  which  here  ought  to  be  observed,  as  well 
with  respect  to  its  effects,  as  in  relation  to  the  matter  itself: 
and  in  this  last  respect,  these  rules  will  serve  to  distinguish  the 
lawful  and  innocent  customs,  from  those  that  are  unjust  and 
illegal  ! 

"'When  a  custom  is  generally  established,  either  between 
all  the  polite  nations  in  the  world,  or  only  between  those  of  a 
certain  continent,  as  of  Europe  for  example  ;  or  those  who 


232  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

have  a  more  frequent  correspondence  ;  if  that  custom  is  in  its 
own  nature  indifferent,  and  much  more,  if  it  be  a  wise  and 
useful  one,  it  ought  to  be  obligatory  on  all  those  nations  who 
are  considered  as  having  given  their  consent  to  it.  And  they 
are  bound  to  observe  it  with  respect  to  each  other,  while  they 
have  not  expressly  declared  that  they  will  riot  adhere  to  it. 
But  f  that  custom  contains  anything  unjust  or  illegal,  it  is  of 
no  force  ;  and  every  nation  is  under  an  obligation  to  abandon 
it,  nothing  being  able  to  oblige  or  permit  a  nation  to  violate  a 
natural  law. 

"'These  three  kinds  of  the  law  of  nations,  voluntary,  con 
ventional  and  customary,  together,  compose  the  positive  law 
of  nations.  For  they  all  proceed  from  the  volition  of  nations  ; 
the  voluntary  law,  from  their  presumed  consent :  the  conven 
tional  law,  from  an  express  consent  ;  and  the  customary  law, 
from  a  tacit  consent  :  and  as  there  can  be  no  other  manner  of 
deducing  any  law  from  the  will  of  nations,  there  are  only  these 
three  kinds  of  the  positive  law  of  nations.' 

"'This  excellent  author,  after  having  stated  the  voluntary 
law  of  nations  to  be  the  result  of  the  equality  of  nations,  and 
the  conventional  law  to  be  particular  compacts  or  treaties. 
binding  only  on  the  contracting-  parties,  declares,  that  the 
customary  law  of  nations  is  only  binding-  to  those  nations 
that  have  adopted  it;  that  it  is  a  particular  a  id  not  a  univer 
sal  law  ;  that  it  applies  only  to  distinct  nations.  The  case  of 
Alexander  and  the  Thebans  is  founded  on  the  general  law  of 
nations,  applicable  to  nations  at  war.  It  is  enough  for  rne,  then, 
to  show  that  America,  being  at  war,  was  entitled  to  the  privi 
lege  of  national  law.  But,  says  Vattel,  the  present  state  of 
European  refinement  controls  the  general  law  (of  which*he  had 
been  before  speaking). 

"  We  know  that  the  customary  law  of  nations  can  only  bind 
those  who  are  parties  to  the  custom.  In  the  year  1770,  when 
America  announced  her  will  to  be  free,  or  in  the  year  1777, 
when  the  law  concerning  British  debts  passed,  was  there  a  cus 
tomary  law  of  America  to  this  effect?  Or  were  the  customary 
laws  of  Europe  binding  on  America?  Were  we  a  party  to 
any  such  customary  law?  Was  there  anything  in  our  consti 
tution  or  laws  which  tied  up  our  hands?  No,  sir.  To  make 
this  customary  law  obligatory,  the  assent  of  all  the  parties  to 
be  bound  by  it  is  necessary.  There  must  be  an  interchange 
of  it.  ^ 

"  It  is  not  for  one  nation  or  community  to  say  to  another,  you 
are  bound  by  this  law,  because  our  kingdom  approves  of  it. 
It  must  not  only  be  reciprocal  in  its  advantages  and  principles, 
but  it  must  have  been  reciprocal  in  its  exercise.  Virginia 


PATRICK    HENRY.  233 

could  not,  therefore,  be  bound  by  it.  Let  us  see  whether  it 
could  be  a  hard  case  on  the  BrULsh  creditors,  that  this  custom 
ary  law  of  nations  did  not  apply  in  their  favour.  Were  these 
debts  contracted  from  a  persuasion  of  its  observance?  Did 
the  creditors  trust  to  this  customary  law  of  nations'?  No,  sir. 
They  trusted  to  what  they  thought  as  firm,  the  statute  and 
common  law  of  England. 

"Victorious  and  successful  as  their  nation  had  lately  been, 
when  they,  in  their  pride  and  inconsiderate  self-confidence, 
stretched  out  the  hand  of  oppression,  their  subjects  placed  no 
reliance  on  the  customs  of  particular  nations.  They  put  con 
fidence  in  those  barriers  of  right,  which  were  derived  from 
their  own  nation.  Their  reliance  was,  that  the  tribunals  estab 
lished  in  this  country,  under  the  same  royal  authority,  as  in 
England,  would  do  them  justice.  If  we  were  not  willing,  they 
possessed  the  power  of  compelling  us  to  do  them  justice.  The 
debts,  having,  therefore,  not  been  contracted  from  any  reliance 
on  the  customary  law  of  nations,  were  they  contracted  from 
a  regard  '  to  the  rights  of  ccmmerce  <" 

"  From  a  view  of  promoting  the  commerce  of  those  little 
things  called  colonies?  This  regard  could  not  have  been  the 
ground  they  were  contracted  on,  for  their  conduct  evinced  that 
they  wished  to  take  the  right  of  commerce  from  us.  "What 
other  ingredient  remains  to  show  the  operation  of  this  custom 
in  their  favour  ?  The  book  speaks  of  strangers  trusting  sub 
jects  of  a  different  nation,  from  a  reliance  on  the  observance 
of  the  customary  law. 

"The  fact  here  was,  that  fellow-subjects  trusted  us,  on  the 
footing  just  stated  ;  trusted  to  the  existing  compulsory  process 
of  law,  not  relying  on  a  passive  inert  custom.  A.  fearful, 
plodding,  sagacious  trader,  would  not  rely  on  so  flimsy,  so  un 
certain  a  dependance.  Something  similar  to  what  he  thought 
positive  satisfaction,  he  relied  on.  Were  we  not  subject  to  the 
same  king?  The  cases  are  then  at  variance.  He  states  the 
custom  to  exist  for  the  advantage  of  commerce,  and  that  a  de 
parture  from  it  would  injure  the  public  faith.  Public  faith  is 
in  this  case  out  of  the  question. 

"The  public  faith  was  not  pledged — it  could  not  therefore 
be  injured.  I  have  already  read  to  your  honours  from  the  llth 
page  of  the  preliminary  discourse  of  Vattel,  '•thai  the  customa 
ry  law  of  nations  is  only  binding  on  those  who  have  adopted  it, 
and  that  it  is  not  universal,  any  more  than  conventional  laws.1 
It  is  evident  we  could  not  be  bound  by  any  convention  or  treaty 
to  which  we  ourselves  were  not  a  party :  arid  from  this  author 
ity  it  is  equally  obvious  that  we  could  not  be  bound  by  any 
customary  law  to  which  we  were  not  parties. 

20* 


234  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

"  I  think,  therefore,  with  great  submission  to  the  court,  that 
the  right  for  which  I  contended,  that  is,  that  in  common  wars 
between  independent  nations,  either  of  the  contending  parties 
has  a  right  to  confiscate  or  remit  debts  due  by  its  people  to  the 
enemy,  is  not  shaken  by  the  customary  law  of  nations,  as  far 
as  it  regards  us,  because  the  custom  could  not  affect  us.  But 
gentlemen  say  we  were  not  completely  independent  till  the 
year  1783!  To  take  them  on  their  own  ground,  their  argu 
ments  will  fail  them.  There  is  a  customary  law  which  will  op 
erate  pretty  strongly  on  our  side  of  the  question.  What  were 
the  inducements  of  the  debtors  ?  On  what  did  the  American 
debtor  rely? 

*'  Sir,  he  relied  for  protection  on  that  system  of  common  and 
statute  law  on  which  the  creditors  depended.  Was  he  deceived 
in  that  reliance  ?  That  he  was  most  miserably  deceived,  I  be 
lieve  will  not  admit  of  a  doubt.  The  customary  law  of  nations 
will  only  apply  to  distinct  nations,  mutually  consenting  thereto. 
When  tyranny  attempted  to  rivet  her  chains  upon  us,  and  we 
boldly  broke  them  asunder,  we  wre  remitted  to  that  amplitude 
of  freedom  which  the  beneficent  hand  of  Nature  gave  us.  We 
were  not  bound  by  fetters  which  are  of  benefit  to  one  party, 
while  they  are  destructive  to  the  other.  Would  it  be  proper 
that  we  should  be  bound,  and  they  unrestrained  ?" 

As  a  still  farther  answer  to  the  objection,  and  as  giving  the 
only  rule  of  restraint  in  operating  on  the  property  of  a  belli- 
gerant,  he  cites  the  following  principle  from  Vattel,  and  applies 
it  to  the  actual  state  of  America  :  "Vattel,  book  the  3d,  cli.  8, 
sect.  137,  says,  that  'the  lawful  end  gives  a  true  right  only  to 
those  means  which  are  necessary  for  obtaining  such  end. 
Whatever  exceeds  this,  is  censured  by  the  laws  of  nature  as 
faulty,  and  will  be  condemned  at  the  tribunal  of  conscience. 
Hence  it  is,  that  the  right  to  such  or  such  acts  of  hostility 
varies  according  to  their  circumstances.  What  is  just  and  per 
fectly  innocent  in  a  war,  in  one  particular  situation,  is  not 
always  so  in  another.  Right  goes  hand  in  hand  with  necessity, 
and  the  exigency  of  the  case  ;  but  never  exceeds  it.' 

"This,  sir,  is  the  first  dictate  of  nature,  and  the  practice  of 
of  nations ;  and  if  your  misfortunes  and  distresses  should  be 
sad  and  dreadful,  you  are  let  loose  from  those  common  restraints 
which  may  be  proper  on  common  occasions,  in  order  to  pre 
serve  the  great  rights  of  human  nature. 

"This  is  laid  down  by  that  great  writer  in  clear  and  unequiv 
ocal  terms.  If  then,  sir,  it  be  certain  from  a  recurrence  to 
facts,  that  it  was  necessary  for  America  to  seize  on  British 
property,  this  book  warrants  the  legislature  of  this  state  in 
passing  those  confiscating  and  prohibitory  laws.  I  need  onlr 


PATRICK    HENRY.  235 

refer  to  your  recollection,  for  our  pressing  situation  during  the 
late  contest ;  and  happy  arn  I,  that  this  all-important  question 
comes  on,  before  the  heads  of  those,  who  were  actors  in  the 
great  scene,  are  laid  in  the  dust.  An  uninformed  posterity 
would  be  unacquainted  with  the  awful  necessity  which  im 
pelled  us  on. 

"If  the  means  were  within  reach,  we  were  warranted  by  the 
laws  of  nature  and  nations  to  use  them.  The  fact  was,  that 
we  were  attacked  by  one  of  the  most  formidable  nations  under 
heaven  ;  a  nation  that  carried  terror  and  dread  with  its  thunder 
to  both  hemispheres." — '[This  illustration  of  the  power  of  Great 
Britain  was,  if  we  may  trust  respectable  tradition,  much  more 
expanded  than  we  find  it  in  the  report ;  and  such  was  the  force 
of  his  irnag-ination,  and  the  irresistible  energy  of  his  delivery 
and  action,  that  the  audience  now  felt  themselves  instinctively 
recoiling  from  the  tremendous  power  of  that  very  nation, 
which  but  a  short  time  before  had  been  exhibited  as  a  mere  dot 
in  the  Atlantic,  a  point  so  microscopic  as  to  be  scarcely  visible 
to  the  naked  eye  :  he  proceeds  to  close  the  first  member  of  his 
first  point  thus :] 

''Our  united  property  enabled  us  to  look  in  the  face  that 
mighty  people.  Dared  we  to  have  gone  in  opposition  to  them 
bound  hand  and  foot  ?  Would  we  have  dared  to  resist  them 
fettered?  for  we  should  have  been  fettered,  if  we  had  been 
deprived  of  so  considerable  a  part  of  our  little  stock  of  na 
tional  resources.  In  that  most  critical  and  dangerous  emer 
gency,  our  all  was  but  a  little  thing.  Had  we  a  treasury? — an 
exchequer?  Had  we  commerce?  Had  we  any  revenue?  Had 
we  anything  from  which  a  nation  could  draw  wealth  ?  No, 
sir.  Our  credit  became  the  scorn  of  our  foes.  However,  the 
efforts  of  certain  patriotic  characters  (there  were  not  a  few  of 
them,  thank  Heaven)  gave  us  credit  among  our  own  people. 

"But  we  had  not  a  farthing  to  spare.  We  were  obliged  to 
go  on  a  most  grievous  anticipation,  the  weight  of  which  we 
feel  at  this  day.  Recur  to  our  actual  situation,  and  the  means 
which  we  had  of  defending  ourselves.  The  actual  situation  of 
America  is  described  here,  where  this  author  says,  *  that  ri&ht 
goes  hand  in  hand  with  necessity.''  The  necessity  of  being 
great  and  dreadful,  you  are  warranted  to  lav  hold  of  every 
atom  of  money  within  your  reach,  especially' if  it  be  the  money 
of  your  enemies.  It  is  prudent  and  necessary  to  strengthen 
yourselves  and  weaken  your  enemies. 

"  Vattel,  book  3d.  ch/8,  sect.  138,  says,  *  The  business   of  a 

j  ust  war  being  to  suppress  violence  and  injustice,  it  tri^ps  a  right 

to  compel,  by  force,  him  who  is  deaf  to  the  voice  of  justice.    It 

fives  a  right  of  doing  against  the  enemy,  whatever  is  necessary 


for  weakening  him — for  disabling  him  from  making  any  farther 
resistance  in  support  of  his  injustice — and  the  most  effectual, 
the  most  proper  methods  may  be  chosen,  provided  they  have 
nothing  odious,  be  not  unlawful  in  themselves,  or  exploded  by 
the  law  of  nature.'  Here  let  me  pause  for  a  moment,  and  ask, 
whether  it  be  odious  in  itself,  or  exploded  by  the  law  of  nature, 
to  seize  those  debts  ? 

"No — because  the  money  was  taken  from  the  very  offenders. 
We  fought  for  the  great,  unalienable,  hereditary  rights  of  hu 
man  nature.  An  unwarrantable  attack  was  made  upon  us.  An 
attack,  not  only  not  congenial  with  motherly  or  parental  tender 
ness,  but  incompatible  with  the  principles  of  humanity  or  civil 
ization.  Our  defence  then  was  a  necessary  one.  What  says 
Vattel,  book  3d,  chapter  8,  section  136?— 'The  end  of  a  just 
war  is  to  revenge  or  prevent  injury ;  that  is,  to  procure  by  force 
the  justice  which  cannot  otherwise  be  obtained;  to  compel  an, 
unjust  person  to  repair  an  injury  already  done,  or  to  give  secu-. 
rities  against  any  wrong  threatened  by  him. 

'"On  a  declaration  of  war,  therefore,  this  nation  has  a  right 
of  doing  against  the  enemy  whatever  is  necessary  to  this  justi 
fiable  end  of  bringing  him  to  reason,  and  obtaining  justice  and 
security  from  him.'  We  have  taken  nothing  in  this  necessary 
defence,  but  from  the  very  offenders — those  who  unjustly  at 
tacked  us  :  for  we  had  a  right  of  considering  every  individual 
of  the  British  nation  as  an  enemy.  This  1  prove  by  the  samQ 
great  writer,  p.  519,  section  139,  of  the  same  book  : — 'An  ene 
my  attacking  me  unjustly  gives  an  undoubted  right  of  repelling 
his  violences  ;  and  he  who  opposes  me  in  arms,  when  I  demand 
only  my  right,  becomes  himself  the  real  aggressor,  by  his  un 
just  resistance.  He  is  the  first  author  of  violence,  and  obliges 
me  to  make  use  of  force,  for  securing  myself  against  the 
wrongs  intended  me  either  in  my  person  or  possessions  ;  for  if 
the  effects  of  this  force  proceed  so  far  as  to  take  away  his  life, 
he  owes  the  misfortune  to  himself;  for,  if  by  sparing  him,  I 
should  submit  to  the,  injury,  the  good  would  soon  become  the 
prey  of  the  wicked. 

'"Hence  the  right  of  killing-  enemies  in  a  just  war  is  de 
rived  ;  when  their  resistance  cannot  be  suppressed — when  they 
are  not  to  be  reduced  by  milder  methods,  there  is  a  right  of 
taking  away  their  life.  Under  the  name  of  enemies,  as  we 
have  already  shown,  are  comprehended  not  only  the  first  au 
thor  of  the  war,  but  likewise  all  who  join  him,  art rf  fght  fnr  his 
cause.'  Thus  I  think  the  first  part  of  my  position  confirmed 
and  unshaken  ;  that  in  common  wars,  a  nation  not  restrained 
by  the  customary  law  of  nations,  has  a  right  to  confiscate  debts." 

In  the  second  member  of  that  point,  he  is  released  from  the 


PATRICK    HENRY.  237 

• 

servility  of  quotation  ;  and,  to  borrow  a  phrase  of  his  own, 
44  remitted  to  the  amplitude"  of  his  natural  genius  :  the  reader 
will  therefore  be  amused  by  a  more  copious  extract  :• — "  From 
this  I  will  go  on  to  the  other  branch  of  my  position  :  that  if, 
in  common  wars,  debts  be  liable  to  forfeiture,  a  fortiori,  must 
they  be  so  in  a  revolution  war.  Let  me  contrast  the  late  war 
with  wars  in  common.  According  to  those  people  called  kings, 
wars  in  common  are  systematic  and  produced  for  trifles  ;  for 
not  conforming  to  imaginary  honours  ;  because  you  have  not 
lowered  your  flag  before  him  at  sea;  or  for  a  supposed  affront 
to  the  person  of  an  ambassador. 

"Nations  are  set  by  the  ears,  and  the  most  horrid  devasta 
tions  are  brought  on  mankind,  for  the  most  frivolous  causes. 
If  then,  when  small  matters  are  in  contest,  debts  be  forfeitable, 
what  must  have  accrued  to  us,  as  engaged  in  the  late  revolution 
war — a  war  commenced  in  attainder,  perfidy,  and  confiscation  ? 
If  we  take  with  us  this  great  principle  of  Vattel,  that  right 
goes  in  hand  with  necessity,  and  consider  the  peculiar  situation 
of  the  American  people,  we  will  find  reason  more  than  suffi 
cient  to  give  us  a  right  of  confiscating  those  debts. 

"The  most  striking  peculiarity  attended  the  American  war. 
In  the  first  of  it,  we  were  stripped  of  every  municipal  right. 
Rights  and  obligations  are  correspondent,  co-extensive,  and  in 
separable — they  must  exist  together,  or  not  at  all.  We  were, 
therefore,  when  stripped  of  all  our  municipal  rights,  clear  of 
every  municipal  obligation,  burden,  and  onerous  engagement. 
If  then  the  obligation  be  gone,  what  is  become  of  the  corres 
pondent  right?  They  are  mutually  gone." 

These  little  words,  "they  are  mutually  gone,"  which  would 
have  made  no  figure  in  the  pronunciation  of  an  ordinary 
speaker,  are  said  to  have  formed  a  beautiful  picture,  as  delivered 
by  Mr.  Henry  :  his  eyes  seemed  to  have  pursued  these  asso 
ciated  objects  to  the  extremest  verge  of  mortal  sight,  while  the 
fall  of  his  voice,  and  correspondent  fall  of  his  extended  hand, 
with  the  palm  downward,  depicted  the  idea  of  evanescence 
with  indescribable  force  :  the  audience  might  imagine,  that 
they  saw  the  objects  at  the  very  instant  when  they  vanished 
in  the  distance,  and  became  commingled  with  the  air  :  and  all 
this,  too,  without  any  affected  pause  to  give  it  effect ;  without 
any  apparent  effort  on  his  part ;  but  with  all  the  quickness  of 
thought  and  all  the  ease  of  nature. 

"The  case  of  sovereign  and  independent  natrons  at  war  is 
far  different:  because,  there  private  right  is  respected,  and  do 
mestic  asylum,  held  ^arrrrl.  Was  it  the  case  in  our  war?  No, 
sir.  Daggers  were  planted  in  your  chambers,  and  mischief,, 
death,  and  destruction,  might  meet  you  at  your  fireside. 


238  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

"  There  is  an  essential  variance  between  the  late  war  and 
common  wars.  In  common  wars,  children  are  not  obliged  to 
fight  against  their  fathers,  nor  brothers  against  brothers,  nor 
kindred  against  kindred.  Our  men  were  compelled,  contrary 
to  the  most  sacred  ties  of  humanity,  to  shed  the  blood  of  their 
dearest  connexions.  In  common  wars,  contending  parties  re 
spect  municipal  rights,  and  leave  even  to  those  they  invade, 
the  means  of  paying  debts,  and  complying  with  obligations  ; 
they  touch  not  private  property.  For  example,  when  a  British 
army  lands  in  France,  they  plunder  nothing:  they  pay  for 
what  they  have,  arid  respect  the  tribunals  of  justice,  unless  they 
have  a  mind  to  be  called  a  savage  nation. 

"Were  we  thus  treated?  Were  we  permitted  to  exercise  in 
dustry  and  to  collect  debts,  by  which  we  might  be  enabled  to 
pay  British  creditors  ?  Had  we  a  power  to  pursue  commerce? 
No,  sir.  What  became  of  our  agriculture?  Our  inhabitants 
were  mercilessly  and  brutally  plundered,  and  our  enemies  pro 
fessed  to  maintain  their  army  by  those  means  only.  Our  slaves 
carried  away,  our  crops  burnt,  a  cruel  war  carried  on  against 
our  agriculture — disability  to  pay  debts  produced  by  pillage 
and  devastation,  contrary  to  every  principle  of  national  law. 
From  that  series  of  plenty  in  which  we  had  been  accustomed 
to  live  and  to  revel,  we  were  plunged  into  every  species  of  hu 
man  calamity. 

"  Our  lives  attacked — charge  of  rebels  fixed  upon  us — con 
fiscation  and  attainder  denounced  against  the  whole  continent; 
and  he  that  was  called  king  of  England  sat  judge  upon  our 
case — he  pronounced  his  judgment,  notlike  those  to  whom  poetic 
fancy  has  given  existence — not  like  him  who  sits  in  the  in 
fernal  regions,  and  dooms  to  the  Stygian  lake  those  spirits  who 
deserve  it,  because  he  spares  the  innocent,  and  sends  some  to 
the  fields  of  Elysium — not  like  him  who  sat  in  ancient  imperial 
Rome,  and  wished  the  people  had  but  one  neck,  that  he  might 
at  one  blow  strike  off  their  heads,  and  spare  himself  the  trouble 
of  carnage  and  massacre,  because  one  city  would  have  satisfied 
his  vengeance — not  like  any  of  his  fellow-men,  for  nothing 
would  satiate  his  sanguinary  ferocity,  but  the  indiscriminate  de 
struction  of  a  whole  continent — involving  the  innocent  with 
the  guilty. 

44  Yes,  he  sat  in  judgment  with  his  coadjutors,  and  pronoun 
ced  proscription,  attainder,  and  forfeiture,  against  men,  women, 
and  even  children  at  the  breast.  Is  not  this  description  point 
edly  true  in  all  its  parts?  And  who  were  his  coadjutors  and 
executioners  in  this  strange  court  of  judicature?  Like  the 
fiends  off  poetic  imagination — Hessians,  Indians  and  Negroes, 
were  his  coadjutors  and  executioners.  Is  there  anything  in 


PATRICK    HENRY.  239 

this  sad  detail  of  offences  which  is  unfounded  ?  anything  not 
enforced  by  the  act  of  parliament  against  America?  We  were 
thereby  driven  out  of  their  protection,  and  branded  by  the 
epithet  rebels.  The  term  rebel  may  not  now  appear  in  all  its 
train  of  horrid  consequences. 

"We  know  that  when  a  person  is  called  rebel  by  that  gov 
ernment,  his  goods  and  life  are  forfeited,  and  his  very  blood 
pronounced  to  be  corrupted,  and  the  severity  of  the  punish 
ment  entailed  on  his  posterity.  To  whom  may  we  apply  for 
the  verity  of  this  ?  The  jurisprudence  and  history  of  that 
nation  prove,  that,  when  they  speak  of  rebels,  nothing  but 
blood  will  satisfy  them.  Is  there  nothing  hideous  in  this  part 
of  the  portrait?  It  is  unparalleled  in  the  annals  of  mankind. 
Though  I  have  respect  for  individuals  of  that  nation,1  my  duty 
constrains  me  to  speaks  thus. 

"  When  we  contemplate  this  mode  of  warfare,  arid  the  sen 
timents  of  the  writers  on  natural  law  on  this  subject,  we  are 
justified  in  saying,  that  in  this  revolution  war,  we  had  a  right 
to  consider  British  debts  as  subject  to  confiscation — and  to  seize 
the  property  of  those  who  originated  that  war.  As  to  the  in 
juries  done  to  agriculture,  they  appear  in  a  diminutive  view, 
when  compared  to  the  injuries  and  indignities  offered  to  per 
sons,  and  mansions  of  abode.  Sir,  from  your  seat  you  might 
have  seen  instances  of  the  most  grievous  hostility :  not  only 
private  property  wantonly  pillaged,  but  men,  women,  and  chil^ 
dren,  dragged  publicly  from  their  habitations,  and  indiscrimin 
ately  devoted  to  destruction.  The  rights  of  humanity  were' 
sacrificed.  We  were  then  deprived  not  only  of  the  benefits  of 
municipal,  but  natural  law. 

"If  there  shall  grow  out  of  these  considerations  a  palpable 
disability  to  pay  those  debts,  I  ask  if  the  claim  be  just?  For 
that  disability  was  produced  by  those  excesses— by  those  very 
men  who  come  on  us  now  for  payment.  Here  give  me  leave 
to  say,  that  they  sold  us  a  bad  title  in  whatever  they  sold  us — 
In  real  as  well  as  in  personal  property.  Describe  the  nature 
of  a  debt:  it  is  an  engagement  or  promise  to  pay — but  it  must 
be  for  a  valuable  consideration.  If  this  be  clear,  was  not  the 
title,  to  whatever  property  they  s'>ld  us,  bad  in  every  sense  of 
the  word,  when  the  war  followed  ?  What  can  add  value  to- 
property?'  Force. 

"Notwithstanding  the  equity  and  fairness  of  the  debt  when 
incurred,  if  the  security  of  the  property  received  was  after 
ward  destroyed,  the  title  has  proved  defective.  Suppose  mill 
ions  were  contracted  for  and  received,  those  millions  give  you 
no  advantage  without  force  to  protect  them.  This  necessary 
protection  is  withdrawn  by  the  very  men  who  were  bound  t& 


240  WHIT'S  LIFE  OF 

afford  it, -and  who  now  demand  payment.  Neither  lands,  slaves, 
nor  other  property,  are  worth  a  shilling,  without  protecting 
force.  This  title  was  destroyed,  when  the  act  of  parliament, 
putting  us  out  of  their  protection,  passed  against  America.  I 
say,  sir,  the  title  was  destroyed  by  the  very  offenders  who  come 
here  now  and  demand  payment.  Justice  and  equity  cancel  the 
obligation  as  to  the  price  that  was  to  be  given  for  it,  because 
the  tenure  is  destroyed,  and  the  effects  purchased  have  no 
value. 

"Such  a  claim  is  unsupported  by  the  plainest  notions  of  right 
and  wrong.  For  this  long  catalogue  of  offences  committed 
against  the  citizens  of  America,  every  individual  of  the  British 
nation  is  accountable.  How  are  you  to  be  compensated  for 
those  depredations  on  persons  and  property?  Are  you  to  go 
to  the  kingdom  of  England,  to  find  the  very  individual  who  did 
you  the  outrage,  and  demand  satisfaction  of  him?  To  tell  you 
of  such  a  remedy  as  this,  is  adding  insult  to  injury.  Every 
individual  is  chargeable  with  national  offences." 

To  maintain  this  last  position,  he  cites  an  authority  expressly 
in  point,  from  Vattel,  and  proceeds  thus  : — "  These  observa 
tions  of  Vattel  amount  to  this  :  that  a  king  or  conductor  of  a 
nation  is  considered  as  a  moral  person,  by  means  of  whom  the 
nation  acquires  or  loses  its  rights,  and  subjects  itself  to  pen 
alties.  The  individuals,  and  the  nation  which  they  compose 
are  one.  I  will  therefore  take  it  for  granted,  that  whatever 
violences  and  excesses  were  committed  on  this  continent  are 
chargeable  to  the  plaintiff  in  this  very  action.  Recollect  our 
distressed  situation.  We  had  no  exchequer,  no  finances,  no 
army,  no  navy,  no  common  means  of  defence. 

"Our  necessity — dire  necessity  compelled  us  to  throw  aside 
those  rules  which  respect  private  property,  and  to  make  im  - 
presses  on  our  own  citizens  to  support  the  war.     Right  ar  id 
necessity  being  co-extensive,  we   were    compelled  to   exert     a 
right  the  most  eminent  over  the  whole  community.     The  sa  Ins 
populi  demanded  what  we  did.     If  we  had  a  right  to  disre^  }ard 
the  legal  fences  thrown  round  the  property  of  our  citizens,     had. 
we  not  a  greater  right  to  take  British  property? 

"Another  peculiarity  contributes  to  aid  our  defence.  The- 
want  of  an  exchequer  obliged  us  to  emit  paper  money  ,  and 
compel  our  citizens  to  receive  it  for  gold.  In  the  ears  of  some 
men  this  sounds  harshly.  But  they  are  young  men,  w  ho  do 
not  know  and  feel  the  irresistible  necessity  that  urg<  »d  us. 
Would  your  armies  have  been  raised,  clothed,  maintair  ied,  or 
kept  together  without  paper  money?  Without  it,  tr  ie  war 
would  have  stood  still,  resistance  to  tyranny  would  hav  e  stop 
ped,  and  despotism,  with  all  its  horrid  train  of  appurte  nances, 


PATRICK    HENRY.  241 

must  have  depressed  your  country.  We  compelled  the  people 
to  receive  it  in  payment  of  all  debts — we  induced  and  invited 
them  (if  we  did  not  compel  them)  to  put  it  into  the  treasury, 
as  a  complete  discharge  from  their  debts. 

44  Sir,  I  trust  I  shall  not  live  to  see  the  day,  when  the  public 
counsels  of  America,  will  give  ground  to  say  that  this  was  a 
state  trick,  contrived  to  delude  and  defraud  the  citizens.  What 
must  it  be  ostensibly,  when,  by  the  compact  of  your  nation, 
they  had  publicly  bound  and  pledged  themselves,  that  it  was 
and  should  be  money,  if  afterward,  in  the  course  of  human 
events,  when  temptations  present  themselves,  they  shall  de 
clare  that  it  is  not  money  ? 

"  Sir,  the  honest  planter  is  unskilled  in  political  tricks  and 
deceptions.  His  interest  ought  never  to  be  sacrificed.  The 
law  is  his  guide.  The  law  compelled  him  to  receive  it,  and  his 
countrymen  would  have  branded  him  with  the  name  of  enemy 
if  he  had  refused  it.  The  laws  of  the  country  are  as  sacred 
as  the  imaginary  sanctity  of  British  debts.  Sir,  national  en 
gagements  ought  to  be  held  sacred ;  the  public  violation  of 
this  solemn  engagement  will  destroy  all  confidence  in  the  gov 
ernment.  If  you  depart  from  the  national  compact  one  iota, 
you  give  a  dangerous  precedent,  which  may  imperceptibly  and 
gradually  introduce  the  most  destructive  encroachment  on  hu 
man  rights." 

He  then  proceeds  to  notice  more  directly  the  objection,  that 
we  were  not  a  people  competent  for  legislation  till  the  assent 
of  the  British  king  was  given  to  our  independence: — "I  will 
beg  leave  here  to  dissent  from  the  position  of  the  gentleman 
on  the  other  side,  which  denied  that  we  were  a  people,  till  our 
enemies  were  pleased  to  say  we  were  so.  That  we  were  a 
people,  and  had  a  right  to  do  everything  which  a  great  and  a 
royal — nay,  an  imperial  people  could  do,  is  clear  and  indispu 
table.  Though  under  t  the  humble  appearance  of  republican 
ism,  our  government  and  national  existence,  when  examined, 
are  as  solid  as  a  rock — not  resting  on  the  mere  fraud  and  op 
pression  of  rulers,  nor  the  credulity  nor  barbarous  igno 
rance  of  the  people;  but  founded  on  the  consent  and  convic 
tion  of  enlightened  human  nature.  That  we  had  every  right 
that  completely  independent  nations  can  have,  will  be  satisfac 
torily  proved  to  your  honours,  by  again  referring  to  Vattel." 

He  then  cites  and  reads  a  passage  from  Vattel,  the  effect  of 
which  is,  that  during  a  civil  war,  the  parties,  acknowledging  no 
common  judge  on  earth,  are  to  be  considered  as  two  distinct 
people ;  and  to  govern  themselves  in  the  conduct  of  the  war 
by  the  general  laws  of  nations.  After  which  he  proceeds 
thus  :— 

21 


M2  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

•'  Here  then,  sir,  is  proof  abundant,  that  \>eK>ro  the  acknowl 
edgment  of  American  independence  by  Greai  Amain,  we  had 
aright  to  be  considered  as  a  nation ;  because  on  eaitlt  we  had 
no  common  superior,  to  give  a  decision  of  the  dispute  between 
us  and  our  sovereign.  After  declaring  ourselves  a  sovereign 
people  we  had  every  right  a  nation  can  claim  as  an  independent 
community.  But  the  gentlemen  on  the  other  side  greatly  rely 
upon  this  principle,  that  a  contract  cannot  be  dissolved  without 
the  consent  of  all  the  contracting  parties  :  the  inference  is,  that 
the  consent  of  the  king  of  Great  Britain  was  necessary  to  the 
dissolution  of  the  government. 

"Tyranny  has  too  often  and  too  successfully  riveted  its 
chains,  to  warrant  a  belief,  that  a  tyrant  will  ever  voluntarily 
release  his  subjects  from  the  governmental  compact.  Rather 
might  it  be  expected,  that  the  last  iota  of  human  misery  would 
be  borne,  and  the  oppression  would  descehd  from  father  to 
son,  to  the  latest  period  of  earthly  existence.  The  despotism 
of  our  sovereign  ought  to  be  considered  as  an  implied  consent, 
on  his  part,  to  dissolve  the  compact  between  us ;  and  he  and 
his  subjects  must  be  considered  as  one — there  can  be  no  dis 
tinction.  For,  in  any  other  view,  his  consent  would  not  have 
been  obtained  without  force.  There  is  such  a  thing,  indeed, 
as  tyranny  from  free  chojce.  Sweden  not  long  ago  surren 
dered  its  liberties  in  one  day,  as  Denmark  had  done  formerly  ; 
so  that  this  branch  of  the  human  family  is  cut  off  from  every 
possible  enjoyment  of  human  rights. 

"But  the  right  to  resist  oppression  is  not  denied.  The  gen 
tlemen's  doctrine  cannot  therefore  apply  to  national  communi 
ties.  If  any  additional  force  was  wanting  to  confirm  what  I 
advance,  it  would  be  derived  from  the  treaty  of  peace,  which 
further  proves,  that  we  were  entitled  to  all  the  privileges  of  in 
dependent  nations.  The  consent  of  all  the  people  of  Europe 
said  we  were  free.  Our  former  master  withheld  his  consent 
till  &  few  unlucky  events  compelled  him.  And  when  he  gave 
his  fiat,  it  gave  us,  by  relation  back  to  the  time  of  the  declara 
tion  of  independence,  all  the  rights  and  privileges  of  a  com 
pletely  sovereign  nation:  our  independence  was  acknowledged 
by  him,  previous  to  the  completion  of  the  treaty  of  peace.  It 
was  not  a  condition  of  the  treaty,  but  was  acknowledged,  by 
his  own  overture,  preparatory  to  it. 

"View  the  consequences  of  their  fatal  doctrine.  There 
would  not  only  have  been  long  arrears  of  debts  to  pay,  but  a 
long  catalogue  of  crimes  to  b-  punished.  If  the  ultimate  ac 
knowledgment  of  our  independence  by  Great  Britain  had  not 
relation  back  to  the  time  of  the  declaration  of  independence* 
all  the  intermediate  acts  of  legislation  would  be  void — and 


PATRICK    HENRY.  243 

every  decision  anA  <*ct,  consequent  thereon,  \vould  be  null. 
But,  sir,  we  were  a  complete  nation  on  every  principle,  accord 
ing  to  the  authorities  I  have  already  read ;  in  addition  to  which 
I  will  refer  your  honours  to  Vnttpl,  hook  iv.  ch.  vii.  sec.  88,  to 
show  we  were  entitled  to  the  benefits  of  national  law,  and  to 
use  all  the  resources  of  the  community  : 

"  *  From  the  equality  of  ail  nations  really  sovereign  and  inde 
pendent,  it  is  a  principle  of  the  voluntary  law  of  nations,  that 
no  nation  can  control  another  in  its  internal  municipal  legisla 
tion.1  If  we  consider  the  business  of  confiscation  recording 
to  the  immemorial  usages  of  Great  Britain,  we  will  hnd  Jhat 
the  law  and  practice  of  that  country  support  my  position.  In 
the  wars  which  respect  revolutions  which  have  taken  plac<*  in 
that  island — life,  fortune,  goods,  debts,  and  everything  pise 
were  confiscated.  The  crimen  I&SCB  majestatis,  as  it  is  called, 
involved  everything.  Every  possible  punishment  has  been 
inflicted  on  suffering  humanity  that  it  could  endure,  by  the 
party  which  had  the  superiority  in  those  wars,  over  the  defeat 
ed  party,  which  was  charged  with  rebellion. 

"  What  would  have  been  the  consequences,  sir,  if  we  had 
been  conquered?  Were  we  riot  fighting  against  that  majesty  ? 
Would  the  justice  of  our  opposition  have  been  considered  ? 
The  most  horrid  forfeitures,  confiscations,  and  attainders,  would 
have  been  pronounced  against  us.  Consider  their  history, 
from  the  time  of  William  the  First  till  this  day.  Were  not 
his  Normans  gratified  with  the  confiscation  of  the  richest 
estates  in  England?  Read  the  excessive  cruelties,  attainders, 
and  confiscations,  of  that  reign.  England  depopulated — its  in 
habitants  stripped  of  the  dearest  privileges  of  humanity — de 
graded  with  the  most  ignominious  badges  of  bondage — and 
totally  deprived  of  the  power  of  resistance  to  usurpation  and 
tyranny. 

"This  inability  continued  to  the  time  of  Henry  the  Eighth. 
In  his  reign,  the  business  of  confiscation  and  attainder,  made 
considerable  havoc.  After  his  reign,  some  stop  was  put  to  that 
effusion  of  blood  which  preceded  and  happened  under  it.  Rec 
ollect  the  sad  and  lamentable  effects  of  the  York  and  Lancas 
trian  wars.  Remember  the  rancorous  hatred  and  inveterate 
detestations  of  contending  factions — the  distinction  of  the 
white  and  red  roses.  To  come  a  little  lower — what  happened 
in  that  island  in  the  rebellions  of  seventeen  hundred  and  fif 
teen  and  seventeen  hundred  and  forty-fire?  If  we  had  been 
conquered,  would  not  our  men  have  snared  the  fate  of  the  peo 
ple  of  Ireland?  A  great  part  of  that  island  was  confiscated, 
though  the  Irish  people  thought  themselves  engaged  in  a  laud 
able  cause.  What  confiscation  and  punishments  were  inflicted 


344  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

in  Scotland  ?  The  plains  of  Culloden,  and  the  neighbouring 
gibbets,  would  show  you.  I  thank  Heaven  that  the  spirit  of 
liberty  under  the  protection  of  the  Almighty,  saved  us  from 
experiencing  so  hard  a  destiny. 

"  But  had  we  been  subdued,  would  not  every  right  have  been 
wrested  from  us?  What  right  would  have  been  saved? 
Would  debts  have  been  saved?  Would  it  not  be  absurd  to 
save  debts,  while  they  should  burn,  hang,  and  destroy?  Be 
fore  we  can  decide  with  precision,  we  are  to  consider  the  dan 
gers  we  should  have  been  exposed  to,  had  we  been  subdued. 
After  presenting  to  your  view  this  true  picture  of  what  would 
have  been  our  situation,  had  we  been  subjugated — surely  a 
correspondent  right  will  be  found,  growing  out  of  the  law  of 
nations  in  our  favour. 

"  Had  our  subjugation  been  effected,  and  we  pleaded  for  par 
don — represented  that  we  defended  the  most  valuable  rights  of 
human  nature,  and  thought  they  were  wrong — would  our  peti 
tion  have  availed?  I  feel  myself  impelled,  from  what  has 
passed,  to  ask  this  question.  I  would  not  wish  to  have  lived 
too  see  the  sad  scenes  we  should  have  experienced. 

"Needy  avarice,  and  savage  cruelty,  would  have  had  full 
scope.  Hungry  Germans,  blood-thirsty  Indians,  and  nations 
of  another  colour,  would  have  been  let  loose  upon  us.  The 
sad  effects  of  such  warfare  have  had  their  full  influence  on  a 
number  of  our  fellow-citizens.  Sir,  if  you  had  seen  the  sad 
scenes  which  I  have  known;  if  you  had  seen  the  simple  but 
tranquil  felicity  of  helpless  and  unoffending  women  and  chil 
dren,  in  little  log  huts  on  the  frontiers,  disturbed  and  destroyed 
by  the  sad  effects  of  British  warfare  and  Indian  butchery,  your 
soul  would  have  been  struck  with  horror  !  Even  those  help 
less  women  and  children  were  the  objects  of  the  most  shock 
ing  barbarity. 

"  Give  me  leave  again  to  refer  to  Vattel,  p.  9 : — *  Nations  be 
ing  free,  independent,  and  equal,  and  having  a  right  to  judge 
according  to  the  dictates  of  conscience,  of  what  is  to  be  done 
in  order  to  fulfil  its  duties  ;  the  effect  of  all  this  is,  the  produ 
cing,  at  least  externally  and  among  men,  a  perfect  equality  of 
rights  between  nations,  in  the  administration  of  their  affairs, 
and  the  pursuit  of  their  pretensions,  without  regard  to  the  in 
trinsic  justice  of  their  conduct,  of  which  others  have  no  right 
to  form  a  definitive  judgment:  so  that  what  is  permitted  in 
one,  is  also  permitted  in  the  other  ;  and  they  ought  to  be  con 
sidered  in  human  society  as  having  an  equal  right.' 

"If  it  be  allowed  to  the  British  nation  to  put  to  death,  to  for 
feit  and  confiscate  debts  and  everything  else,  may  we  not  (hav 
ing  an  equal  right)  confiscate — not  life,  for  we  never  desire  it — 


PATRICK    HENRY.  245 

but  that  which  is  the  common  object  of  confiscation — property, 
goods,  and  debts,  which  strengthen  ourselves  and  weaken  our 
enemies?  I  trust  that  this  short  recapitulation  of  events 
shows,  that  if  there  ever  was  in  the  history  of  man  a  case  re 
quiring  the  full  use  of  all  human  means,  it  was  our  case  in  the 
late  contest;  and  we  were  therefore  warranted  to  confiscate 
the  British  debts." 

He  now  takes  another  ground  to  establish  the  confiscation; 
I  shall  give  his  whole  argument  on  this  point  in  his  own 
ivords : — 

"I  beg  leave  to  add  that  these  debts  are  lost  on  another  prin 
ciple.  By  the  dissolution  of  the  British  government,  America 
went  into  a  state  of  nature — on  the  dissolution  of  that  of  which 
we  had  been  members,  there  being  no  government  antecedent, 
we  went  necessarily  into  a  state  of  nature.  To  prove,  this,  I 
need  only  refer  to  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  pronoun 
ced  on  the  fourth  day  of  July,  seventeen  hundred  and  seventy- 
six,  and  our  state  constitution." — Here  Mr.  Henry  read  part 
of  the  constitution. — "  It  recites  many  instances  of  misrule 
6y  the  king  of  England — it  asserts  the  right  and  expediency 
of  dissolving  the  British  government,  and  going  into  a  state 
of  nature ;  or,  in  other  words,  to  establish  a  new  government. 
The  right  of  dissolving  it  and  forming  a  new  system,  had  pre 
ceded  the  fourth  day  of  July,  seventeen  hundred  and  seventy- 
six. 

"  A  recapitulation  of  the  events  of  the  tyrannical  acts  of  gov 
ernment,  would  demonstrate  a  right  to  dissolve  it.  But  I  may 
go  farther,  and  even  say,  that  the  act  of  parliament  which  de 
clared  us  out  of  the  king's  protection,  dissolved  it.  For  what 
is  government?  It  is  an  express  or  implied  compact  between 
the  rulers  and  ruled,  stipulating  reciprocal  protection  and  obe 
dience.  That  protection  was  withdrawn,  solemnly  withdrawn 
from  us.  Of  consequence,  obedience  ceased  to  be  due.  Our 
municipal  rights  were  taken  away  by  one  blow.  Municipal 
obligations  and  government  were  also  taken  away  by  the  same 
blow. 

"Well,  then,  there  being  no  antecedent  government,  we  re 
turned  into  a  state  of  nature.  Unless  we  did  so,  our  new  com 
pact  of  government  could  only  be  a  usurpation.  In  a  sta*te  of 
nature  there  is  no  legal  lien  in  the  person  or  property  of  any 
one.  If  you  are  not  clear  of  every  antecedent  engagement, 
what  is  the  legality  or  strength  of  the  present  constitution  of 
government?  If  any  antecedent  engagements  are  to  bind, 
how  far  are  they  to  reach  ?  You  had  no  right  to  form  a  new 
government,  if  the  old  system  existed  ;  and  if  it  did  not  exist, 
you  were  necessarily  and  inevitably  in  Q  state  of  nature. 

21* 


240  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

"  In  my  humble  opinion,  by  giving  validity  to  such  claims, 
you  destroy  the  very  idea  of  the  right  to  form  a  new  govern 
ment.  Vattel  calls  government  the  totality  of  persons,  estates, 
and  effects,  formed  by  every  individual  of  the  new  society,  and 
that  totality  represented  by  the  governing  power.  How  can 
the  totality  exist  while  an  antecedent  right  exists  elsewhere? 
See  Grolius,  page  4,  which  I  have  already  read,  and  note  29  : 
because  the  design  and  good  of  civil  society  necessarily  re 
quire,  that  the  natural  and  acquired  rights  of  each  member 
should  admit  of  limitations  several  ways,  and  to  a  certain  de 
gree  by  the  authority  of  him  or  them,  in  whose  hands  the  sov 
ereign  authority  is  lodged.  When  we  formed  a  new  govern 
ment,  did  there  exist  any  authority  that  limited  our  rights? 
How  can  the  totality  exist,  if  any  other  person  or  persons  have 
an  existing  claim  upon  you? 

"  It  'appears  to  me,  that  that  equality  which  is  involved  in  a 
state  of  nature  cannot  exist  while  such  claim  exists.  The 
court  will  recollect  what  I  have  already  read  out  of  Vattel,  in 
sections  15  and  18.  The  equality  here  ascribed  to  independ 
ent  nations  is  equally  ascribed  to  men  in  a  state  of  nature.  A 
moral  society  of  persons  cannot  exist  without  this  absolute 
equality.  The  existence  of  individuals  in  a  state  of  nature, 
depends  in  like  manner  upon,  and  is  inseparable  from  such 
equality. 

"  Rights,  as  before-mentioned,  Vattel,  pp.  8  and  9,  are  di 
vided  into  internal  and  external:  of  external  rights,  he  makes 
the  distinction  of  perfect  and  imperfect.  I  beseech  your  hon 
ours  to  fix  this  distinction  in  your  minds.  The  perfect  external 
right  only  is  accompanied  with  the  right  of  constraint.  The 
imperfect  right  loses  that  quality,  and  leaves  it  to  the  party  to- 
comply  or  not  to  comply  with  it.  When  the  former  govern 
ment  was  dissolved,  the  American  people  became  indebted  to 
nobody.  You  either  owe  everything  or  nothing — and  every 
contract  and  engagement  must  be  done  away,  if  any. 

"In  a  state  of  nature  you  are  free  and  equal.  But  how  are 
you  free,  if  another  have  a  lien  on  your  body  ?  Where  is 
your  freedom,  or  your  equality  with  that  person,  who  has  the 
right  of  constraining  you?  This  right  of  constraint  implies  a 
complete  authority  over  you,  but  not  however  to  enslave  you. 
This  constraint  is  always  adequate  to  the  right  or  obligation. 
Where  can  you  find  the  possibility  of  this  equality  which  na 
ture  gives  her  sons,  if  we  admit  an  existing  right  of  constraint? 

"If  it  be  a  fact,  that  on  the  dissolution  of  the  government 
we  did  enter  into  a  state  of  nature,  (and  that  we  did,  I  humbly 
judge,  cannot  be  denied,  as  at  that  time  no  government  existed 
at  all,)  it  destroys  all  claim  to  one  farthing.  This  will  be  found 


PATRICK    HENRY.  94? 

to  be  true,  as  well  upon  the  ground  of  equity  and  good  con 
science  as  in  law,  when  it  is  considered,  that  when  we  went 
into  a  state  of  nature,  the  means  of  paying  debts  were  taken 
away  from  us  by  them  ;  because,  so  far  as  they  had  power  over 
us,  they  prevented  us  from  getting  money  to  pay  debts.  They 
interdicted  us  from  the  pursuit  of  profitable  commerce  ;  from 
getting  gold  and  silver,  the  only  things  they  would  take — they 
unjustly  drove  us  to  this  extremity.  By  the  concession  of  the 
worthy  gentlemen,  their  attack  upon  us  was  unjust. 

"But  then,  debts  are  not  subject  to  confiscation,  say  gentle 
men,  because  there  were  no  inquests,  no  office  found  for  the 
commonwealth.     Has  a  debt  an  ear-mark?     Is  it  tangible  or 
visible?     Has  it  any  discriminating  quality  ?     Unless  tangible 
or  visible,  how  is  it  to  be  ascertained  or  distinguished?     What 
does  an  inquest  mean  ?     A  solemn  inquiry  by  a  jury,  by  ocular 
examination,  with  other  proofs.     If  an  inquest  of  office   were 
to  be  had  of  land,  a  jury  could  tell  the  lines  and  boundaries  of 
it,  because  they  may   be  distinguished  from   others,    and   its 
identity  may  thereby  be  ascertained.     If  a  horse  be  the  object 
of  inquiry,  he  can  be  easily  distinguished  from  any  other  horse. 
"In  like  manner  every  other  article  of  visible  property  may 
be  subject  to  inquests;  but  such  a  thing  as  an  inquest  of  a  debt 
never  existed,  as  far  as  my  legal  knowledge,  extends.     What 
are  to  be  the  consequences,  if  this  proceeding  be  requisite  ? 
You  must  set  up  a  court  of  inquisition,  summon  the  whole  na 
tion,  and  ask  every  man  how  much  do  you  owe?     This  would 
be  productive  of  endless  confusion,  perplexity  arid   expense, 
without  the  desired  effect.     The  laws    of  war  and  of  nations 
require  no  more  than  that  the  sovereign  power  should  openly 
signify  its  will,  that  the  debts  be  forfeited.     There  is   no  par- 
licular  forensic  form   necessary.     The  question   here  is  not, 
whether   this    confiscation   be  traversed  in  all   the   forms   of 
municipal  regulations.     There  is  a   question   between   Great 
Britain  and  America  similar  to  that  between  Alexander  and  the 
Thebans.     Has  the  sovereign  signified  his  pleasure  that  debts 
be  remitted? 

"A  sign  is  completely  sufficient,  if  it  be  understood  by  the 
people.  There  is  a  necessity  of  thus  speaking  the  legislative 
will,  that  the  other  party  may  know  it,  and  retaliate  ;  for  what 
is  allowed  to  one,  is  to  both  parties.  This  was  different  from 
the  nature  of  a  solemn  war.  War  is  lawful  or  unlawful,  ac 
cording  to  the  manner  of  conducting  it.  In  the  prosecution  of 
a  lawful  solemn  war,  it  is  necessary  that  you  do  not  depart  from 
certain  rules  of  moderation,  honour,  and  humanity,  but  act 
according  to  the  usual  practice  of  belligerant  powers.  Did  the 
mother-country  conduct  the  war  against  us  in  this  manner? 


WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

We  did  openly  say,  we  mean  to  confiscate  your  debts,  and 
modify  them,  because  they  have  lost  their  perfect  external 
quality — they  are  imperfect — we  claim  that  right,  as  a  sover 
eign  people,  over  that  species  of  your  property. 

"  Sir,  it  was  not  done  in  a  corner.  It  was  understood  by 
our  enemies.  They  had  a  right  to  retaliate  on  any  species  of 
our  property  they  could  find.  The  right  of  retaliation,  or  just 
retortion,  for  equivalent  damage  on  any  part  of  an  enemy's 
property,  is  permitted  to  every  nation.  What  right  has  the 
British  nation  (for  if  the  nation  have  not  the  right,  none  of  its  peo 
ple  have)  to  demand  a  breach  of  faith  in  the  American  govern 
ment  to  its  citizens?  I  have  already  mentioned  the  engage 
ment  of  the  government  with  its  citizens  respecting  the  paper 
money — If  you  take  it,  it  shall  be  money.  Shall  it  be  judged 
now  not  to  be  money  ?  Shall  this  compact  be  broken  for  the 
sake  of  the  British  nation?  No,  sir,  the  language  of  national 
law  is  otherwise. 

"Sir,  the  laws  of  confiscation  and  paper-money  made  to 
gether  one  system,  connected  and  sanctioned  by  the  legislature, 
on  which  depended  once  the  fate  our  country,  and  on  which 
depend  now  the  happiness,  the  ease,  and  comfort  of  thousands 
of  your  fellowcitizens.  Will  it  not  be  a  breach  of  the  com 
pact  with  your  people,  to  say  that  the  money  is  not  to  keep  up 
its  original  standard  in  the  quality  given  it  by  law?  What  were 
the  effects  of  this  system?  What  would  have  been  the  effects, 
had  your  citizens  been  apprized  that  British  debts  must  be 
paid?  Would  they  have  taken  the  money?  Would  they  have  de 
posited  the  money  in  the  loan-office  if  they  had  been  warned  by 
law,  that  they  must  deposite  it,  subject  to  the  future  regulations 
of  peace;  that  it  should  not  release  them  from  the  creditors? 

"However  right  it  may  appear  now  to  decry  the  paper- 
money,  it  would  have  been  fatal  then  ;  for  America  might  have 
perished,  without  the  aid  and  effect  of  that  medium.  Your 
citizens,  trusting  to  this  compact,  submitted  to  a  number  of 
things  almost  intolerable — impressments  and  violences  on  their 
property — it  encouraged  them  to  exert  themselves  in  defence 
of  their  property  against  the  enemy  during  the  war.  If  the 
debt  in  the  declaration  mentioned  be  recovered,  the  compact  is 
subverted,  as  respecting  the  paper-money.  And  this  subver 
sion  is  to  take  effect  for  the  interest  of  those  men,  whom,  by 
all  laws  human  and  divine,  we  were  obliged  to  consider  as  en 
emies  ;  men  who  were  obliged  to  comply  with  the  regulations, 
and  requisitions  of  their  king  ;  and  our  people  will  have  been 
labouring,  not  for  themselves,  but  for  the  benefit  of  the  British 
subject. 

"  When,  a  vessel  is  in  danger  in  a  storm,  those  who  abide  oi\ 


PATRICK    HENRY.  249 

ooard  of  her,  and  encounter  the  dangers  of  the  sea  to  save  her, 
are  allowed  some  little  compensation  for  salvage,  for  their 
fidelity  and  gallantry  in  endeavouring  to  prevent  her  loss ; 
while  those  who  abandon  her  are  entitled  to  nothing.  But,  in 
opposition  to  this  wise  and  politic  principle,  we,  who  have 
withstood  the  storms  and  dangers,  receive  no  compensation  ; 
but  those  who  left  the  political  ship,  and  joined  those  on  the 
other  side  of  the  water  who  wished  to  sink  her,  and  who  caused 
her  to  fight  eight  long  years  for  her  preservation,  shall  come  in 
at  last,  and  get  their  full  share  of  this  vessel,  and  yet  will  have 
been  exonerated  from  every  charge. 

"For  whom,  then,  were  the  people  of  America  engaged  in 
war?  Not  for  themselves,  I  am  sure — the  property  that  they 
saved  will  not  be  for  themselves,  but  for  those  whom  they  had 
a  right  to  call  enemies.  I  am  not  willing  to  ascribe  to  the 
meanest  American  the  love  of  money,  or  desire  of  eluding  the 
payment  of  his  debts,  as  the  motive  of  engaging  in  the  war. 
No,  sir.  He  had  nobler  and  better  views.  But  he  thinks  him 
self  well  entitled  to  those  debts,  from  the  laws  and  usages  of. 
nations,  as  a  compensation  for  the  injuries  he  has  sustained. 
There  is  a  sad  drawback  on  this  property  saved.  A  national 
debt  for  seventeen  years,  considerable  taxes,  which  were  pro 
fusely  laid  during  the  war  on  lands  and  slaves;  and,  since  the 
peace,  we  have  been  loaded  with  a  heavy  taxation.  I  know 
that  I  advocate  this  cause  on  a  very  advantageous  ground,  when, 
I  speak  of  the  right  of  salvage. 

"  The  cargo  on  board  the  wrecked  vessel  belongs  to  the 
British,  it  will  have  been  saved  for  them !  but  the  salvage  is 
due  to  us  only.  If  you  take  it  on  the  ground  of  interest — you 
may  hold  as  a  pledge — you  may  retain  for  salvage.  If  you. 
take  it  on  the  scale  of  the  common  law,  or  of  national  law — 
you  may  oppose  damages  to  debts — retain  the  debts,  to  retri- 
bufe  and  compensate  for  the  injuries  they  have  done  you.  I 
have  now  got  over  and  I  trust  established  the  first  point ;  that 
is  that  debts  in  common  wars  are  subject  to  forfeiture,  and 
much  more  so  in  a  revolution  war  like  the  American  war." 

These  copious  extracts  from  the  report  on  Mr.  Henry's  first 
point  are  deemed  necessary  to  give  the  reader  an  idea  of  his 
mode  of  argumentation,  so  far  as  it  can  be  furnished  by  this 
report.  It  would  be  trespassing  on  the  indulgence  of  the 
proprietor  of  the  manuscript,  (which  has  never  been  published,) 
and  trespassing  too,  perhaps,  on  the  patience  of  that  portion 
of  my  readers  who  can  find  no  enjoyment  in  legal  discussion, 
to  pursue  any  farther  this  extended  mode  of  analysis.  Having 
established  his  first  position,  he  presents  his  ncx^  point  thus  : — 
"  My  next  point  is,  that  the  British  debts  being  go  forfeited  (as 


250  WIRT  S    LITE    OF 

I  conceive)  can  only  be  revived  by  the  treaty ;  and  unless  they 
be  so  revived,  they  are  gone  for  ever.  I  will  then  consider  how 
this  matter  stands  under  the  treaty." 

He  proceeds  then  to  show  by  authority,  the  rules  by  which 
treaties  are  to  be  construed  ;  and  demonstrates,  that  a  treaty 
can  confer  no  benefit  unless  it  be  mutually  observed  with  good 
faith  ;  that  periidy  on  either  side  is  a  forfeiture  of  all  its  advan 
tages  ;  that  the  stipulations  of  a  treaty  are  in  the  nature  of  con 
ditions  precedent ;  that  a  breach  on  either  side  dissolves  the 
covenant  altogether,  and  places  the  parties  on  the  general 
ground  which  they  occupied  before  the  treaty  ;  that  Great  Brit 
ain  had  violated  the  treaty,  in  the  moment  of  its  ratification,  by 
carrying  off  our  slaves,  and  detaining  with  an  armed  force  those 
posts  of  which  she  had  stipulated  the  immediate  surrender  ; 
that  the  pretence  of  her  having  acted  thus  as  a  retaliatory 
measure  for  the  non-payment  of  the  debts,  was  an  insult  to 
common  understanding,  because  she  began  her  infractions  be 
fore  any  experiment  had  been  made  of  a  recovery  of  the  debts  ; 
that  the  notion  of  a  reprisal,  preceding  any  injury — and  a  re 
taliation,  in  advance,  of  any  wrong  on  the  opposite  side,  was 
so  far  from  mitigating  her  offence,  that  it  was  a  daring  insult  on 
the  honour  and  good  faith  of  this  nation  !  Having,  by  a  series 
of  authorities  directly  in  point,  established  the  right  of  the 
American  nation  to  regard  the  treaty  as  abolished  by  any  per 
fidious  infraction  of  it,  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain,  he  shows 
next,  that  those  infractions  were  established  by  the  pleadings 
in  the  cause  ;  because  the  defendant,  by  his  several  pleas,  had 
specified  those  infractions,  and  the  plaintiff,  by  demurring  tc 
the  pleas,  had  admitted  the  truth  of  their  averments. 

Great  Britain,  then,  as  a  nation,  having  by  her  own  perfidy 
forfeited  all  right  to  insist  upon  the  treaty,  and  that  treaty,  as 
between  the  nations,  being  annulled,  the  next  question  was, 
xvhether  any  individual  of  the  British  nation  could  claim -any 
advantage  under  the  treaty  1  This  he  shows  could  not  be 
done,  because  in  making  the  treaty,  the  sovereigns  of  the  two 
nations  acted  for  all  the  individuals  of  their  respective  nations; 
the  individuals  were  bound  by  all  the  acts  of  those  sovereigns, 
whether  in  making  or  abolishing  a  treaty.  **  Here,"  said  he, 
"  are  two  moral  persons,  Great  Britain  and  America,  making  a 
contract. 

The  plaintiff  claims  and  the  defendant  defends  under 
and  through  them ;  and  if  either  nation  or  moral  person 
has  no  right  to  benefits  from  such  contract,  individuals  claim 
ing  under  them  can  have  none.  The  plaintiff  then  claims  un 
der  his  nation,  but  if  that  nation  have  committed  perfidy  re 
specting  the  observance  of  the  compact,  no  right  can  be  car- 


PATRICK.    HENRY.  251 

ried  therefrom  to  the  plaintiff.  It  puts  him  back  in  the  same 
situation  he  was  in  before  the  treaty." 

He  shows  the  absurdity  of  considering  the  treaty  as  annul 
led,  in  relation  to  all  the  individuals,  in  their  collective  char 
acter  of  a  nation,  and  yet  as  in  full  force  for  the  benefit  of  each 
individual  separately;  for  if  this  plaintiff  had  a  right  to  all  the 
beneficial  effects  of  the  treaty,  every  man  in  England  had  the 
same  right ;  and  he  cites  arid  reads  from  Vattel,  a  conclusive 
authority,  to  show,  that  the  conventional  law  of  nations  could 
take  its  effect  only  from  universal  right,  extending  equally  to 
all  the  citizens  or  individuals  of  a  nation. 

But  to  say  that  America  had  a  right  to  consider  the  treaty 
as  void  against  all  the  individuals  of  the  British  nation,  collect' 
ecety,  while  eacfi  and  every  individual  of  that  nation  separ 
ately,  could  enforce  it  upon  her,  was  to  offer  to  the  understand 
ing  a  paradoxical  absurdity,  as  insulting  to  common  sense,  as 
the  conduct  of  Great  Britain  had  been  to  the  honour  of  the 
American  nation. 

He  contended  further  on  this  point,  that  if  the  treaty  had 
been  observed  by  Great  Britain,  and  were  of  consequence  still 
obligatory,  it  did  not  and  could  not  operate  where  moneys  had 
been  actually  paid  into  the  treasury  under  the  laws  of  the 
state;  for  the  provision  of  the  treaty  is,  "that  creditors  on 
either  side  should  meet  with  no  lawful  impediment  to  the  re 
covery  of  all  bonafide  debts  heretofore  contracted."  The  de 
fendant,  he  said,  having  paid  the  money  into  the  treasury  ac 
cording  to  the  act  of  assembly,  and  the  truth  of  the  pay 
ment  being  admitted  in  the  record,  this  article  of  the  treaty 
could  not  support  the  plaintiff's  claim. 

"  To  derive  a  benefit  from  the  treaty,  the  plaintiff  must  de- 
wand  a  bona  fide  debt ;  that  is,  a  debt  bona  fide  due.  The 
word  debt  implies  that  the  thing  is  due ;  for  if  it  be  not 
due,  how  can  it  be  a  debt?  To  give  to  these  words,  all  debts 
heretofore  contracted,  a  strictly  literal  sense,  would  be  to  au 
thorize  a  renewed  demand  for  debts  which  had  been  actually 
paid  off  to  the  creditor ;  for  these  were  certainly  within  the 
words  of  the  treaty,  being  debts  heretofore  contracted : — to 
•avoid  this  absurd  and  dishonest  consequence,  you  must  look 
at  the  intention  of  the  thing;  and  the  intention  certainly  was 
to  embrace  those  cases  where  there  had  not  been  a  legal  pay 
ment.  I  ask,"  said  he,  "  why  a  payment  made  in  gold  and 
silver  is  a  legal  payment?  Because  the  coin  of  those  metals 
is  made  current  by  the  laws  of  this  country.  If  paper  be 
made  current  by  the  same  authority,  why  should  not  a  pay 
ment  in  it  be  equally  valid  ? 

"The  British  subject  cannot  demand  payment,  because  I 


252  WIUT'S  LIFE  OF 

confront  his  demand  with  a  receipt.  Why  will  a  receipt  dis 
charge  in  any  instance  ? — because  it  is  founded  on  the  laws  of 
the  country.  A  receipt  given  in  consequence  of  a  payment  in 
coin,  is  a  legal  discharge,  only  because  the  laws  of  the  coun 
try  make  it  so.  I  ask  then,  why  a  receipt  given  in  conse 
quence  of  a  payment  into  the  treasury,  be  not  of  equal  valid 
ity,  since  it  has  precisely  the  same  foundation  ?  It  is  expressly 
constituted  a  discharge  by  a  legislature  having  competent  au 
thority.  This  debt,  therefore,  having  been  legally  paid  by  the 
contractor,  was  not  due  from  him  at  the  time  of  making  the 
treaty,  and  therefore  is  not  within  the  intention  of  that  instru 
ment. 

"But,  say  the  gentlemen  on  the  other  side,  the  one  payment 
has  the  consent  of  the  creditor,  and  the  other  has  not:  he  who 
paid  coin  has  the  creditor's  consent  to  the  discharge,  but  he 
who  paid  money  into  the  treasury  wants  it.  Have  we  not  sat 
isfied  this  honourable  court,  that  the  jroverning  power  had  a 
right  to  put  itself  in  the  place  of  the  British  subjects?  Hav 
ing  had  an  unquestionable  right  to  confiscate,  sequester,  or 
modify  those  debts  as  they  pleased,  they  had  an  equally  indu 
bitable  right  to  substitute  themselves  in  the  stead  of  the  plain 
tiff,  otherwise  those  authorities  have  been  quoted  in  vain." 

He  then  cites  authorities  to  prove,  that  the  law  of  the  place 
governs  the  contract;  and  concludes  that  the  payment  into  the 
treasury  having  in  this  instance  been  made  in  consequence  of 
a  law  of  this  commonwealth,  which  was  strictly  consonant 
with  the  laws  of  nations,  and  which  had  declared  that  such 
payment  should  operate  as  a  complete  and  final  discharge, 
this  was  not  a  subsisting  debt,  within  the  contemplation  of  the 
treaty,  and  remained  therefore,  wholly  unaffected  by  it. 

"  The  next  question  was,  whether  this  court  could  take  no 
tice  of  this  infraction  of  the  treaty,  on  the  part  of  Great  Brit 
ain,  and  found  their  judgment  upon  it.  On  this  question  he 
observes  that  the  court  were  not  called  upon  to  step  out  of 
their  appropriate  sphere,  in  order  to  invade  the  province  of 
the  jury  by  trying  facts  ;  the  facts  were  all  agreed  by  the  plead 
ings  ;  the  court  were  merely  called  upon  to  say  what  was  the 
law  arising  on  those  facts. 

"The  existence  or  non-existence  of  the  treaty,  was  a  legal 
inference  from  the  facts  agreed  ;  which  the  courts  alone  were 
competent  to  decide.  The  plaintiff  himself  had  forced  this 
question  on  the  court,  by  relying  in  his  replication  on  the 
treaty,  as  restoring  his  right  to  recover  this  debt.  He  sets  up 
his  right  under  this  instrument  expressly,  and  then  questions 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  court  to  decide  upon  the  instrument! 
The  treaty,  quoad  hoc,  is  the  covenant  of  the  parties  in  this 


PATRICK    HENRY.  253 

att:  the.  question  presented  by  the  pleadings  is,  whether  the 
plaintift'  who,  by  that  covenant,  has  taken  upon  himself  the 
performance  of  a  precedent  condition,  can  claim  any  benefit 
under  it,  until  he  shall  show  that  this  precedent  condition  has 
been  performed. 

"On  this  question,"  said  he,  "the  gentleman's  argument  is, 
that  the  court  have  no  power  to  decide  on  the  construction  of 
the  covenant,  which  he  himself  has  brought  before  them  ;  that 
they  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  dependance  or  independence 
of  the  stipulations  or  the  reciprocal  rights  of  the  parties,  to 
claim  under  the  covenant,  without  showing  a  previous  perform 
ance  on  their  respective  parts  ! 

"  He,  on  the  contrary,  insisted  that,  under  the  constitution 
of  the  United  States,  the  question  belonged,  peculiarly  and 
exclusively,  to  the  judicial  department;  that  by  the  constitu 
tion  it  was  expressly  provided,  that  the  judicial  power  should 
extend  to  all  cases  arising'  under  treaties;  that  the  law  of 
treaties  embraced  the  whole  extent  of  natural  and  national  law  • 
that  the  constitution  therefore,  by  referring  all  cases  arising  un 
der  treaties  to  the  judiciary,  had  of  necessity  invested  them 
with  the  power  of  appealing  to  that  code  of  laws,  by  which 
alone  the  construction,  the  operation,  the  efficacy,  the  legal  ex 
istence  or  non-existence  of  treaties,  must  be  tested :  and  by 
this  code  they  were  told  in  the  most  emphatic  terms,  that  he 
who  violates  one  article  of  a  treaty,  releases  the  other  party 
from  the  performance  of  any  part  of  it:  that  the  reference  of 
<ill  cases  arising  under  treaties,  to  the  judicial  department,  car 
ried  with  it  every  power  near  or  remote,  direct  or  collateral 
which  was  essential  to  a  fair  and  just  decision  of  those  cases 
that  in  every  such  case,  the  very  first  question  was,  Is  there  a 
treaty  or  not? — not  whether  there  has  been  a  treaty — but 
whether  there  is  an  existing  obligatory,  operative  treaty. 

"To  decide  this  question,  the  court  must  bring  the  facts  to 
the  standard  of  the  laws  of  nations ;  and  by  this  standard  it 
had  been  shown,  that  in  the  case  at  bar,  there  existed  no  treaty 
from  which  a  British  subject  could  claim  any  benefit.  That  if 
the  judicial  department  had  not  the  power  of  deciding  this 
question,  there  was  no  department  in  the  American  govern 
ment  which  did  possess  it:  the  state  governments  have  nothing 
to  do  with  it — congress  cannot  touch  the  subject — they  may 
indeed  declare  war  for  a  violation  ;  but  a  nation  \vas  not  to  be 
forced  to  this  extremity  on  every  occasion  ;  there  were  other 
modes  of  redress,  short  of  a  declaration  of  war,  to  which  na 
tions  had  a  right  to  resort;  and  one  of  them,  as  he  had  shown. 
was  the  power  of  withholding  from  the  perfidious  violator  ol, 
a  treaty,  those  benefits  which  he  claimed  under  it. 


354 

"  Now  congress  could  not  by  a  law  declare  a  treaty  void — it 
is  not  among  those  grants  of  power  which  the  constitution 
makes  to  them  ;  they  cannot,  therefore,  meddle  with  the  sub 
ject  in  any  other  way  than  by  a  declaration  of  war ;  neither 
can  the  president  and  senate  touch  it.  They  can  make  treaties  ; 
but  the  constitution  gives  them  no  power  to  expound  a  treaty  ; 
much  less  to  declare  it  void;  they  can  only  unite  with  the 
house  of  representatives,  in  punishing  an  infraction  by  a  dec 
laration  of  war.  To  the  judiciary  alone  then,  belongs  this 
pacific  power  of  withholding  legal  benefits,  claimed  under  a 
treaty,  because  of  the  mala  fides  of  the  party  claiming  them. 

"Now  what  will  be  the  situation  of  this  country,  compared 
with  that  of  Great  Britain,  if  you  deny  this  power  to  the  judi 
ciary  ?  If  you  have  not  observed  the  treaty  with  good  faith, 
and  go  to  England,  claiming  any  benefit  under  the  treaty,  there 
is  a  power  there,  called  royal  prerogative,  which  will  tell  you — 
no — go  home  and  act  honestly,  and  you  shall  have  your  rights 
under  the  treaty. 

"Your  breach  of  faith  will  not  drive  them  to  a  declaration 
of  war — there  is  a  power  there  which  obtains  redress  by  with 
holding  your  rights,  until  you  act  with  good  faith  :  but  where 
is  the  reciprocal  and  corresponding  power  in  our  government, 
if  it  be  not  in  the  judiciary  ?  It  is  nowhere ;  we  have  no 
redress  short  of  a  declaration  of  war.  Is  this  one  of  the  pre 
cious  fruits  of  the  adoption  of  the  federal  constitution,  to  bind 
us  hand  and  foot  with  the  fetters  of  technicality,  and  leave  us 
no  way  of  bursting  them  asunder,  but  by  a  declaration  of  war, 
and  the.  effusion  of  human  blood!  It  was  never  intended. 
The  wisdom  and  virtue  which  framed  the  constitution  could 
never  have  intended  to  place  the  country  in  this  humiliating 
and  awful  predicament." 

"Give  to  this  power  of  deciding  on  treaties,  which  is  dele 
gated  to  the  federal  judiciary,  a  liberal  construction — give  them 
all  the  incidental  powers  necessary  to  carry  it  into  effect — 
open  to  them  the  whole  region  of  natural  and  national  law, 
which  furnishes  the  only  rule  of  expounding  those  national 
compacts,  called  treaties,  and  your  government  is  unrnutilated, 
its  measure  of  power  is  full  up  to  the  exigences  of  the  nation, 
and  you  treat  on  equal  terms  :  but  upon  the  opposite  construc 
tion,  much  better  would  it  be  that  America  should  have  no 
treaties  at  all,  than  that  having  them,  she  should  want  those 
means  of  enforcement  and  redress  which  all  other  nations 
possess." 

Having  thus  established  that  debts  are  subject  to  confisca 
tion  in  common  wars,  and  much  more  so  in  the  war  of  the  rev 
olution—that  Virginia  was  an  independent  nation,  and  as  such, 


PATRICK    HENRY.  255 

competent  to  the  exercise  of  this  right  of  eminent  domain — of 
taking  to  herself  the  debts  of  her  enemies — that  she  had  in 
fact  exercised  this  right,  and  that  this  debt  had,  under  one  of 
her  laws  of  that  character,  been  legally  discharged — that  the 
treaty  had  no  effect  in  reviving  the  claim,  because  the  treaty 
had  been  annulled  by  the  infractions  of  it  on  the  part  of  Great 
Britain — and  because  if  it  had  not,  this  was  not  a  subsisting 
debt,  within  the  purview  of  the  treaty — and  finally,  that  the 
court's  jurisdiction  extended  to  every  question  touching  the 
consequence  or  annulment  of  treaties. 

He  said  he  had  now  finished  his  own  view  of  the  subject, 
and  should  have  taken  his  seat,  but  for  the  necessity  of  giving 
a  particular  answer  to  the  various  objections  to  these  princi 
ples,  which  had  been  so  ably  urged  by  the  counsel  for  the 
plaintiff. 

In  this  part  of  his  subject  he  shows  the  most  masterly  acute- 
ness,  address,  and  vigour.  A  gentleman  who  was  present,  (the 
late  Mr.  Hardin  Burnley,)  has  described  some  of  the  circum 
stances  of  his  manner,  with  a  very  interesting  minuteness : — 
"Mr.  Henry,"  he  said,  "had  taken  ample  notes  of  the  argu 
ments  of  his  adversaries :  the  people  would  give  him  his  own 
time  to  examine  his  notes,  and  select  the  argument  or  remark 
that  he  meant  to  make  the  subject  of  his  comments,  observing 
in  these  pauses  the  most  profound  silence.  If  the  answer 
he  was  about  to  give  was  a  short  one,  he  would  give  it  without 
removing  his  spectacles  from  his  nose — but  if  he  was  ever 
seen  to  give  his  spectacle  a  cant  to  the  top  of  his  wig,  it  was  a 
declaration  of  war,  and  his  adversaries  must  stand  clear." 

I  propose  to  give  a  few  specimens  only  of  his  mode  of  an 
swering  the  arguments  of  the  opposing  counsel.  It  had  been 
urged  by  them  that  the  laws  of  nations  had  declared  only  the 
estate  of  an  alien  enemy  liable  to  confiscation — but  that  debts 
were  mere  rights — choses  in  action — and  therefore  not  of  a 
confiscable  character.  His  answer  to  this  is  a  happy  mixture 
of  ridicule  and  argument.  It  is  short,  and  I  shall  give  it  in  his 
own  words  : — 

"  But  a  chose  in  action  is  not  liable  to  forfeiture.  Why? 
Because  it  is  too  terrible  to  be  done.  There  is  such  a  thing  as 
straining  at  a  gnat  and  swallowing  a  camel.  Things  much 
more  terrible  have  been  done — things,  from  which  our  nature, 
where  it  has  any  pretensions  to  be  pure  and  correct,  must  re 
coil  with  horror.  Show  me  those  laws  which  forfeit  your  life, 
attaint  your  blood,  and  beggar  your  wife  and  children.  Those 
sanguinary  and  inhuman  laws,  to  which  every  thing  valuable 
must  yield,  are  to  be  found  in  the  code  of  that  people,  under 
whom  the  plaintiff  now  claims. 


250  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

'*  Is  it  so  terrible  to  confiscate  debts,  when  they  forfeit  life, 
and  corrupt  the  very  source  of  your  blood  ?  Though  every 
other  thing  dear  to  humanity  is  forfeitable,  yet  debts,  it  seems, 
must  be  spared  !  Debts  are  too  sacred  to  be  touched?  It  is  a 
mercantile  idea  that  worships  Mammon  instead  of  God.  A 
chose  in  action  shall  pass — it  is  without  your  reach.  What 
authority  can  they  adduce  in  support  of  such  conclusive  pre 
eminence  for  debts?  No  political  or  human  institution  has 
placed  them  above  other  things.  If  debt  be  the  most  sacred  of 
all  earthly  obligations,  I  am  uninformed  from  whence  it  has  de 
rived  that  eminence.  The  principle  is  to  be  found  in  the  day 
books,  journals  and  legers  of  merchants;  not  in  the  writings 
or  reasonings  of  the  wise  and  well-informed — the  enlightened 
instructers  of  mankind. 

"  Can  any  gentlemen  show  me  any  instance,  where  the  life 
or  property  of  a  gentleman  or  plebeian  in  England  is  forfeited, 
and  yet  his  debts  spared?  The  state  can  claim  debts  due  to- 
one  guilty  of  high  treason.  Are  they  not  subject  to  confisca 
tion?  I  concur  in  that  sound  principle,  that  good  faith  is  es 
sential  to  the  happiness  of  mankind ;  that  its  want  stops  all 
human  intercourse,  and  renders  us  miserable.  This  principle 
is  permanent,  a»-'l  universal.  Look  to  what  point  of  the  com 
pass  you  wi'..,  you  will  find  it  pervading  all  nations.  Who 
does  not  set  down  its  sacred  influence  as  the  only  thing  that 
comforts  human  life?  Does  the  plaintiff  claim  through  good 
faith?  How  does  he  derive  his  claim?  Through  perfidy: 
through  a  polluted  channel.  Everything  of  that  kind  would 
have  come  better  from  our  side  of  the  question,  than  from  theirs." 

Mr.  Ronald  had  insisted  strenuously,  that  there  could  be  no 
forfeiture  or  escheat  without  the  inquest  of  a  jury  ;  and  that  no 
act  of  the  legislature  had,  in  fact,  directly  forfeited  these  debts. 
In  answer  to  this,  Mr.  Henry  says,  "  but  the  gentleman  has 
observed,  that  neither  the  declaration  of  the  legislature,  by  the 
act  of  1770,  that  the  British  subjects  had  become  aliens,  and 
their  property  vested  in  the  commonwealth,  nor  any  other  act 
passed  on  the  subject,  could  divest  the  debts  out  of  the  British 
creditors.  It  cannot  be  done  without  the  solemnity  of  an  in 
quiry  by  jury.  The  debt  of  A  or  B,  cannot  be  given  to  C, 
without  this  solemnity. 

"  Is  the  little  legality  of  forms,  which  are  necessary  when 
you  speak  of  estates  and  titles,  requisite  on  such  mighty  occa 
sions  as  these?  When  the  fate  of  a  nation  is  concerned,  you 
are  to  speak  the  language  of  nature.  When  your  very  exist 
ence  is  at  stake,  are  you  to  speak  the  technical  language  of 
books,  and  to  be  confined  to  the  limited  rules  of  technical  crit 
icism?  to  those  tricks  and  quirks — those  little  twists  and  twirls 


PATRICK    HENRY.  257 

of  low  chicanery  and  sophistry,  which  are  so  beneficial  to 
professional  men  ?  Alexander  said,  in  the  style  of  that  mighty 
man,  to  the  Thessalians,  'You  are  free  from  the  ThebansJ  and 
the  debts  they  owed  them  were  thereby  remitted. 

"  Every  other  sovereign  has  the  same  right  to  use  the  same 
natural,  manly,  and  laconic  language:  not  when  he  is  victori* 
ous  only,  but  in  every  situation,  if  he  be  in  a  state  of  hostility 
with  other  nations.  The  acts  use  not  the  language  of  techni* 
cality,  they  speak  not  of  releases,  discharges  and  acquittances ; 
but  they  speak  the  legislative  will,  in  simple  speech,  to  the 
human  understanding — a  style  better  suited  to  the  purpose, 
than  the  turgid  and  pompous  phraseology  of  many  great 
writers." 

Mr.  Ronald,  who  was  a  native  of  Scotland,  and  at  the  com 
mencement  of  the  revolutionary  war  at  least,  had  been  sus 
pected  of  being  not  very  warm  in  the  American  cause,  had 
urged  the  objection  to  the  national  competency  of  Virginia,  at 
the  time  of  the  passage  of  those  laws  of  confiscation  and  for 
feiture,  on  which  the  defendant  relied  ;  and  in  the  course  of  his 
observations,  had  unfortunately  used  the  remark,  that  Virginia 
was,  at  that  time,  nothing  more  than  a  revolted  colony. 

When  Mr.  Henry  came  to  notice  this  remark,  he  gave  his 
spectacles  the  war  cant: — "But  another  observation,"  said  he, 
"was  made ;  that  by  the  law  of  nations  we  had  not  a  right  to 
legislate  on  the  subject  of  British  debts — we  were  not  an  inde 
pendent  nation — and  I  thought,"  said  he,  raising  himself  aloft, 
while  his  frame  dilated  itself  beyond  the  ordinary  size,  "that  I 
heard  the  word — revolt  /" 

At  this  word,  he  turned  upon  Mr.  Ronald  his  piercing  eye, 
and  knit  his  brows  at  him,  with  an  expression  of  indignation 
and  contempt,  which  seemed  almost  to  annihilate  him.  It  was 
like  a  stroke  of  lightning.  Mr.  Ronald  shrunk  from  the  with 
ering  look :  and,  pale  and  breathless,  cast  down  his  eyes, 
"seeming,"  says  my  informant,  "  to  be  in  quest  of  an  auger-, 
hole,  by  which  he  might  drop  through  the  floor,  and  escape  for 
ever  from  mortal  sight." 

Mr.  Henry  perceived  his  suffering,  and  his  usual  good-nature 
immediately  returned  to  him.  He  raised  his  eyes  gently  tow 
ard  the  court,  and  shaking  his  head  slowly,  with  an  expres 
sion  of  regret,  added,  "I  wish  I  had  not  heard  it:  for  though 
innocently  meant,  (and  I  am  sure  that  it  was  so,  from  the  char 
acter  of  the  gentleman  who  mentioned  it,)  yet  the  sound  dis 
pleases  me — it  is  unpleasant."  Mr.  Ronald  breathed  again, 
and  looked  up,  and  his  generous  adversary  dismissed  the  topic, 
to  resume  it  no  more. 

It  may  give  the  reader  some  idea  of  the  amplitude  of  this 

22* 


258  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

argument,  when  he  is  told  that  Mr.  Henry  was  engaged  (href 
days  successively  in  its  delivery  ;  and  some  faint  conception  or 
the  enchantment  which  he  threw  over  it,  when  he  learns  thai 
although  it  turned  entirely  on  questions  of  law,  yet  the  audi 
ence,  mixed  as  it  was,  seemed  so  far  from  being  wearied,  ihat 
they  followed  him  throughout  with  increased  enjoyment.  The 
room  continued  full  to  the  last;  and  such  was  the  "listening- 
silence"  with  which  he  was  heard,  that  not  a  syllable  that  he 
uttered  is  believed  to  have  been  lost. 

When  he  finally  sat  down,  the  concourse  rose  with  a  general 
murmur  of  admiration;  the  scene  resembled  the  breaking  up 
and  dispersion  of  a  great  theatrical  assembly,  which  had  been 
enjoying  for  the  first  time,  the  exhibition  of  some  new  and 
splendid  drama :  the  speaker  of  the  house  of  delegates  was  at 
length  able  to  command  a  quorum  for  business  ;  and  every 
quarter  of  the  city,  and,  at  length,  every  part  of  the  state,  was 
rilled  with  the  echoes  of  Mr.  Henry's  eloquent  speech. 

His  practice  during  these  last  years,  of  which  we  are  now 
speaking,  was  confined  pretty  generally  to  cases  of  conse 
quence.  He  did  not  like  the  profession,  and  was  not  willing 
to  embark  in  any  case  for  the  ordinary  fees.  I  have  an  inter 
esting  sketch  of  him,  in  his  professional  character,  during 
those  years,  from  the  same  elegant  pen,  which  in  a  former 
page,  exhibits  the  parallel  between  him  and  Mr.  Lee  in  1784: 
it  is  as  follows  : — 

"  At  the  bar,  Mr.  Henry  was  eminently  successful.  When 
I  saw  him  there,  he  must,  from  the  course  of  his  life,  which 
had  been  chiefly  political,'  have  become  somewhat  rusty  in  the 
learning  of  his  profession  :  yet  I  considered  him  as  a  good 
lawyer:  he  seemed  to  be  well  acquainted  with  the  rules  and 
canons  of  property.  He  would  not,  indeed,  undergo  the 
drudgery  necessary  for  complicated  business  ;  yet  I  am  told, 
that  in  the  British  debt  cause,  he  astonished  the  public  not  less 
by  the  matter  than  the  manner  of  his  speech. 

"It  was  however  as  a  criminal  lawyer  that  his  eloquence  had 
the  fairest  scope,  and  in  that  character  I  hare  seen  him.  He 
was  perfect  master  of  the  passions  of  his  auditory,  whether  in 
the  tragic  or  comic  line.  The  tones  of  his  voice,  to  say  noth 
ing  of  his  matter  and  gesture,  were  insinuated  into  the  feel 
ings  of  his  hearers,  in  a  manner  that  baffles  all  description. 
It  seemed  to  operate  by  mere  sympathy;  and  by  his  tones 
alone,  it  seemed  to  me,  that  he  could  make  you  cry  or  laugh  at 
pleasure.  I  will  endeavour  to  give  you  some  account  of  this 
tragic  and  comic  effect  in  two  instances,  which  I  witnessed. 

"About  the  year  1792,  one  Holland  killed  a  young  man  in 
Botetourt.  The  young  man  was  popular,  and  lived,  I  think, 


PATRICK    HKNRY.  259 

with  Mr.  King,  a  wealthy  merchant  in  Fincastle,  who  employed 
Mr.  John  Brmekenridge  to  assist  in  the  prosecution  of  Holland. 
This  Holland  had  gone  up  from  the  county  of  Louisa  as  a 
schoolmaster,  but  had  turned  out  badly,  and  was  unpopular. 
The  killing  was  in  the  night,  and  was  generally  believed  to  be 
murder.  He  was  the  son  of  one  Doctor  Holland,  who  was 
yet  living  in  Louisa,  and  had  been  one  of  Mr.  Henry's  juvenile 
friends  and  acquaintances. 

"It  was  chiefly  at  the  instance  of  the  father,  and  for  a  very 
moderate  fee,  that  Mr.  Henry  undertook  to  go  out  to  the  district 
court  of  Greenbrier,  to  defend  the  prisoner.  Such  were  the 
prejudices  there,  that  the  people  had  openly  and  repeatedly 
declared  that  even  Patrick  Henry  need  not  come  to  defend 
Holland,  unless  he  brought  a  jury  with  him.  On  the  day  of 
trial,  the  courthouse  was  crowded.  I  did  not  move  from  my 
seat  for  fourteen  hours ;  and  had  no  wish  to  do  so.  The  ex 
amination  of  the  witnesses  took  up  great  part  of  the  time,  and 
the  lawyers  were  probably  exhausted.  Brackenridge  was  elo 
quent;  but  Henry  left  no  dry  eye  in  the  courthouse. 

"  The  case  I  believe  was  murder ;  though,  possibly,  man 
slaughter  only.  Mr.  Henry  laid  hold  of  this  possibility  with 
such  effect  as  to  make  all  forget  that  Holland  had  killed  the 
storekeeper  at  all ;  and  presented  the  deplorable  case  of  the 
jury  killing  Holland,  an  innocent  man.  By  that  force  of  de 
scription  which  he  possessed  in  so  wonderful  a  degree,  he  ex 
hibited,  as  it  were,  at  the  clerk's  table,  old  Holland  and  his 
wife,  who  were  then  in  Louisa  ;  but  the  drawing  was  so  pow 
erful,  and  so  true  to  nature,  that  we  seemed  to  see  them  before 
us,  and  to  hear  them  asking  of  the  jury,  '  Where  is  our  son? 
What  have  you  done  with  him  ?' 

"All  this  was  done  in  a  manner  so  solemn  and  touching,  and 
a  tone  so  irresistible,  that  it  was  impossible  for  the  stoutest 
heart  not  to  take  sides  with  the  criminal:  as  for  the  jury,  they 
lost  sight  of  the  murder  they  were  trying,  and  wept  most  pro 
fusely,  with  old  Holland  and  his  wife,  whom  Mr.  Henry  painted, 
and  perhaps  proved  to  be  very  respectable.  During  the  ex 
amination  of  the  evidence,  the  bloody  clothes  had  been  brought 
in.  Mr.  Henry  objected  to  their  exhibition,  and  applied  most 
forcibly  and  pathetically  Antony's  remark  on  Cesar's  wounds, 
on  those  dumb  mouths  which  would  raise  the  stones  of  Rome 
10  mutiny. 

"He  urged  that  this  sight  would  totally  deprive  the  jury  of 
their  judgment,  which  would  be  merged  in  their  feelings.  The 
court  were  divided,  and  the  motion  fell.  The  result  of  the 
irial  was,  that  after  the  retirement  of  a  half  or  quarter  of  an 
hour,  the  jury  brought  in  a  verdict  of  not  guilty ;  but  on  being 


560  WIRT'S  LIFE  or 

reminded  by  the  court  that  they  might  find  a  decree  of  homi 
cide,  inferior  to  murder,  they  altered  their  verdict  to  guilty  of 
manslaughter" 

"  Mr.  Henry  was  not  less  successful  in  the  comic  line,  when 
it  became  necessary  to  resort  to  it.  You  have  no  doubt  heard 
how  he  defeated  John  Hook,  by  raising  the  cry  of  beef  against 
him.  I  will  give  you  a  similar  instance.  In  the  year  1792, 
there  were  many  suits  on  the  south  side  of  James  river,  for 
inflicting  Lynch's  law;  thirty-nine  lashes,  inflicted  without  trial 
or  law,  on  a  mere  suspicion  of  guilt,  which  could  not  be  regu 
larly  proved.  This  lawless  practice,  which,  sometimes  by  the 
order  of  a  magistrate,  sometimes  without,  prevailed  extensively 
in  the  upper  counties  on  James  river,  took  its  name  from  the 
gentleman  who  set  the  first  example  of  it. 

"A  verdict  of  five  hundred  pounds  had  been  given  in  Prince 
Edward  district  court,  in  a  case  of  this  kind.  This  alarmed  the 
defendant  in  the  next  case,  who  employed  Mr.  Henry  to  defend 
him.  The  case  was,  that  a  wagoner  and  the  plaintiff  were 
travelling  to  Richmond  together,  when  the  wagoner  knocked 
down  a  turkey,  and  put  it  into  his  wagon.  Complaint  was 
made  to  the  defendant,  a  justice  of  the  peace;  both  the  parties 
were  taken  up,  and  the  wagoner  agreed  to  take  a  whipping 
rather  than  be  sent  to  jail :  but  the  plaintiff  refused  :  the  jus 
tice,  however,  gave  him  also  a  small  flagellation ;  and  for  this 
the  suit  was  brought. 

"  The  plaintiff,  by  way  of  taking  off  the  force  of  the  defence, 
insisted  that  he  was  wholly  innocent  of  the  act  committed. 
Mr.  Henry  on  the  contrary  contended,  that  he  was  a  party 
present,  aiding  and  assisting.  In  the  course  of  his  remarks, 
he  expressed  himself  thus: — 'But,  gentlemen  of  the  jury,  the 
plaintiff  tells  you  he  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  turkey — I  dare 
say,  gentlemen,  not  until  it  was  roasted,1  &c.  He  pronounced 
this  word  roasted  with  such  rotundity  of  voice,  such  a  ludi 
crous  whirl  of  the  tongue,  and  in  a  manner  so  indescribably 
comical,  that  it  threw  everyone  into  a  fit  of  laughter  at  the 
plaintiff,  who  stood  up  in  the  place  usually  allotted  to  crirni 
nals;  and  the  defendant  was  let  off  with  little  or  no  damages." 

The  case  of  John  Hook,  to  which  my  correspondent  alludes, 
is  worthy  of  insertion.  Hook  was  a  Scotchman,  a  man  of 
wealth,  and  suspected  of  being  unfriendly  to  the  American 
cause.  During  the  distresses  of  the  American  army,  conse 
quent  on  the  joint  invasion  of  Cornwallis  and  Phillips  in  sev 
enteen  hundred  and  eighty-one,  a  Mr.  Venable,  an  army  com 
missary  had  taken  two  of  Hook's  steers  for  the  use  of  the 
troops. 

The  act  had  not  been  strictly  legal ;  and  on  the  establish 


PATRICK    HENRY.  261 

merit  of  peace,  Hook,  under  the  advice  of  Mr.  Cowan,  a  gen 
tleman  of  some  distinction  in  the  law,  thought  proper  to  bring 
an  action  of  trespass  against  Mr.  Venable,  in  the  district  court 
of  New  London.  Mr.  Henry  appeared  for  the  defendant,  and 
is  said  to  have  disported  himself  in  this  cause  to  the  infinite 
enjoyment  of  his  hearers,  the  unfortunate  Hook  always  ex- 
cepted.  After  Mr.  Henry  became  animated  in  the  cause,  says 
a  correspondent,  (Judge  Stuart,)  he  appeared  to  have  complete 
control  over  the  passions  of  his  audience:  at  one  time  he  ex 
cited  their  indignation  against  Hook  :  vengeance  was  visible 
in  every  countenance :  again  when  he  chose  to  relax  and  ridi 
cule  him,  the  whole  audience  was  in  a  roar  of  laughter. 

He  painted  the  distress  of  the  American  army,  exposed 
almost  naked  to  the  rigour  of  a  winters  sky,  and  marking  the 
frozen  ground  over  which  they  inarched,  with  the  blood  of 
their  unshod  feet — "  where  was  the  man,"  he  said,  **  who  had 
an  American  heart  in  his  bosom,  who  would  not  have  thrown 
open  his  fields,  his  barns,  his  cellars,  the  doors  of  his  house, 
the  portals  of  his  breast,  to  have  received  with  open  arms,  the 
meanest  soldier  in  that  little  band  of  famished  patriots  ?  Where 
is  the  man? — There  he  stands — but  whether  the  heart  of  an 
American  beats  in  his  bosom,  you,  gentlemen,  are  to  judge." 

He  then  carried  the  jury,  by  the  powers  of  his  imagination, 
to  the  plains  around  York,  the  surrender  of  which  had  follow 
ed  shortly  after  the  act  complained  of:  he  depicted  the  surren 
der  in  the  most  glowing  and  noble  colours  of  his  eloquence — 
the  audience  saw  before  their  eyes  the  humiliation  and  dejec 
tion  of  the  British,  as  they  marched  out  of  their  trenches — 
they  saw  the  triumph  which  lighted  up  every  patriot  face,  and 
heard  the  shouts  of  victory,  and  the  cry  of  Washington  and 
liberty  as  it  rung  and  echoed  through  the  American  rank,  and 
was  reverberated  from  the  hills  and  shores  of  the  neighbouring 
river — "but  hark!  what  notes  of  discord  are  these  which  dis 
turb  the  general  joy,  and  silence  the  acclamations  of  victory — 
they  are  the  notes  of  John  Hook,  hoarsely  brawling  through 
the  American  camp,  beef!  beef!  beef!" 

The  whole  audience  were  convulsed  :  a  particular  incident 
will  give  a  better  idea  of  the  effect,  than  any  general  descrip 
tion.  The  clerk  of  the  court,  unable  to  command  himself,  and 
unwilling  to  commit  any  breach  of  decorum  in  his  place,  rush 
ed  out  of  the  courthouse,  and  threw  himself  on  the  grass,  in 
the  most  violent  paroxysm  of  laughter,  where  he  was  rolling, 
when  Hook,  with  very  different  feelings,  came  out  for  relief 
into  the  yard  also.  "  Jemmy  Steptoe,"  said  he  to  the  clerk, 
44  what  the  devil  ails  ye,  mon  ?"  Mr.  Steptoe  was  only  able  to 
say,  that  he  could  not  help  it.  "  Never  mind  ye,"  sai'd  Hook, 


1262  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

"  wait  till  Billy  Cowan  gets  up  he'll  show  him  the  la'."  Mr. 
Cowan,  however,  was  so  completely  overwhelmned  by  the 
torrent  which  bore  upon  his  client,  that  when  he  rose  to 'reply 
to  Mr.  Henry,  he  was  scarcely  able  to  make  an  intelligible  or 
audible  remark. 

The  cause  was  decided  almost  by  acclamation.  The  jury 
retired  for  form  sake,  and  instantly  returned  with  a  verdict  for 
the  defendant.  Nor  did  the  effect  of  Mr.  Henry's  speech  stop 
here.  The  people  were  so  highly  excited  by  the  tory  audacity 
of  such  a  suit,  that  Hook  began  to  hear  around  him  a  cry  more 
terrible  than  that  of  beef;  it  was  the  cry  of  tar  and  feathers : 
from  the  application  of  which  it  is  said,  that  nothing  saved 
him  but  a  precipitate  flight  and  the  speed  of  his  horse. 

I  have  not  attempted,  in  the  course  of  these  sketches,  to  fol 
low  Mr.  Henry  through  his  professional  career.  I  have  no  ma 
terials  to  justify  such  an  attempt.  It  has  been,  indeed,  stated 
to  me  in  general,  that  he  appeared  in  such  .and  such  a  case,  and 
that  he  shone  with  great  lustre  ;  but  neither  his  speeches  in 
those  cases,  nor  any  point  of  his  argument,  nor  even  any  bril 
liant  passage  has  been  communicated,  so  that  the  sketch  that 
could  be  given  of  them  must  be  either  confined  to  a  meager 
catalogue  of  the  causes,  or  the  canvass  must  be  filled  up  by 
my  own  fancy,  which  would  at  once  be  an  act  of  injustice  to 
Mr.  Henry,  and  a  departure  from  that  historical  veracity, 
which  it  has  been  my  anxious  study  in  every  instance  to  ob 
serve. 

I  have  been  told,  for  example,  that  in  the  year  seventeen 
hundred  and  seventy-four,  Mr.  Henry  appeared  at  the  bar  of 
the  general  court,  in  defence  of  a  married  man  by  the  name  of 
Henry  Bullard,  indicted  for  the  murder  of  a  beautiful  girl,  who 
lived  in  his  house,  to  whom  he  had  unfortunately  become  at 
tached,  and  whom  in  a  moment  of  frantic  despair,  he  sacrificed 
to  his  hopeless  passion.  The  defence  is  said  to  have  been 
placed  on  the  ground  of  insanity ;  and  it  is  easy  to  conceive,  in 
general  the  figure  which  Mr.  Henry  must  have  made  in  such  a 
course.  Those  pathetic  powers  of  eloquence,  in  which  he 
was  so  pre-eminently  great,  Had  ample  scope  for  their  exercise 
in  this  case;  and  we  can  credit,  without  difficulty,  the  assertion, 
that  he  deluged  the  house  with  tears,  and  effected  the  acquittal 
of  his  client.  But  this  is  all  that  we  know  of  the  case.* 

*  If  this  is  the  case  of  Henry  Bullard,  who  was  indicted  at  the  April  term 
of  seventeen  hundred  and  seventy-four,  for  the  murder  of  Mary  Pinner,  this 
honour  claimed  by  my  correspondent  for  Mr  Henry,  is  not  due  ;  for  the  records 
of  the  general  court  show,  that  the  indictment,  although  originally  drawn  for 
the  charge  of  murder,  was  reduced  to  manslaughter  by  the  grand  jury ;  of 
which  offence  the  prisoner  was  convicted.  There  is,  probably,  some  mistake 
in  the  name. 


PATRICK    HENRY.  263 

So  also  I  learn  that,  on  the  same  occasion  after  the  war,  he 
appeared  at  the  bar  of  the  house  of  delegates,  in  support  of  a 
petition  of  the  officers  of  the  Virginia  line,  who  sought  to  be 
placed  on  the  footing  of  those  who  had  been  taken  on  conti 
nental  establishment :  and  that,  after  having  depicted  their  ser 
vices  and  their  sufferings  in  colours  which  filled  every  heart 
with  sympathy  and  gratitude,  he  dropped  on  his  knees  at  the 
bar  of  the  house,  and  presented  such  an  appeal  as  might  almost 
have  softened  rocks,  and  bent  the  knotted  oak.  Yet  no  ves 
tige  of  this  splendid  speech  remains ;  nor  have  I  been  able, 
after  the  most  diligent  inquiries,  to  ascertain  the  year  in  which 
it  occurred  ;  similar  petitions  having  been  presented  for  several 
successive  sessions. 

It  was  in  the  year  seventeen  hundred  and  ninety-four,  that 
he  bade  a  final  adieu  to  his  profession,  and  retired  to  the  bosom 
of  his  own  family.  He  retired,  loaded  with  .honours,  public 
and  professional:  and  carried  with  him  the  admiration,  the 
gratitude,  the  confidence,  and  the  love  of  his  country.  No 
man  had  ever  passed  through  so  long  a  life  of  public  service, 
with  a  reputation  more  perfectly  unspotted. 

Nor  had  Mr.  Henry,  on  any  occasion,  sought  security  from 
censure,  by  that  kind  of  prudent  silence  and  temporizing  neu 
trality,  which  politicians  so  frequently  observe.  On  the  con 
trary,  his  course  had  been  uniformly  active,  bold,  intrepid,  and 
independent.  On  every  great  subject  of  public  interest,  the 
part  which  he  had  taken  was  open,  decided,  manly ;  his  coun 
try  saw  his  motives,  heard  his  reasons,  approved  his  conduct, 
rested  upon  his  virtue  and  his  vigour;  and  contemplated  with 
amazement,  the  evolution  and  unremitted  display  of  his  trans 
cendent  talents. 

For  more  than  thirty  years  he  had  now  stood  before  that 
country — open  to  the  scrutiny  and  the  censure  of  the  invidious — 
yet  he  retired,  not  only  without  spot  or  blemish,  but  with  all 
his  laurels  blooming  full  and  fresh  upon  him — followed  by  the 
blessings  of  his  almost  adoring  countrymen,  and  cheered  by 
that  most  exquisite  of  all  earthly  possessions — the  conscious 
ness  of  having,  in  deed  and  in  truth,  played  well  his  part.  He 
had  now,  too,  become  disembarrassed  of  debt;  his  fortune  was- 
affluent ;  and  he  enjoyed  in  his  retirement,  that  ease  and  dig 
nity,  which  no  man  ever  more  richly  deserved. 


•  •* 


264  WIRT  S    LIFE    OF 


CHAPTER  X. 

Mr.  Henry's  Retirement — State  of  Politics — Letter  to  his  Daughter — He  is 
again  elected  Governor — Declines  the  Office — His  Position  in  regard  to  the 
two  great  Political  Parties — Presents  himself  as  a  Candidate  for  the  House 
of  Delegates — Speech  before  opening  the  Polls — Eminent  Men  arrayed 
against  Him — His  Death. 

WHATEVER  difference  of  opinion  may  exist  as  to  other  parts 
of  his  character,  in  this  the  concurrence  is  universal :  that 
there  never  was  a  man  better  constituted  than  Mr.  Henry  to 
enjoy  and  adorn  the  retirement  on  which  he  had  now  entered. 
Nothing  can  be  more  amiable,  notning  more  interesting  and 
attaching,  than  those  pictures  which  have  been  furnished  from 
every  quarter,  without  one  dissentient  stroke  of  the  pencil,  of 
this  great  and  virtuous  man  in  the  bosom  of  private  life. 

Mr.  Jefferson  says,  that  "  he  was  the  best-humoured  com 
panion  in  the  world."  His  disposition  was  indeed  all  sweet 
ness — his  affections  were  warm,  kind,  and  social — his  patience 
invincible — his  temper  ever  unclouded,  cheerful,  and  serene — 
his  manners  plain,  open,  familiar,  and  simple — his  conversation 
easy,  ingenuous,  and  unaffected,  full  of  entertainment,  full  of 
instruction,  and  irradiated  with  all  those  light  and  softer  graces 
which  his  genius  threw  without  effort,  over  the  most  common 
subjects.  It  is  said  that  there  stood  in  the  court,  before  his  door, 
a  large  walnut-tree,  under  whose  shade  it  was  his  delight  to 
pass  his  summer  evenings,  surrounded  by  his  affectionate  and 
happy  family,  and  by  a  circle  of  neighbours  who  loved  him  al 
most  to  idolatry.  Here  he  would  disport  himself  with  all  the 
careless  gayety  of  infancy. 

Here,  too,  he  would  sometimes  warm  the  bosoms  of  the  old, 
and  strike  fire  from  the  eyes  of  his  younger  hearers,  by  re 
counting  the  tales  of  other  times;  by  sketching  with  the  bold 
ness  of  a  master's  hand,  those  great  historic  incidents  in  which 
he  had  borne  a  part;  and  by  drawing  to  the  life,  and  placing 
before  his  audience,  in  colours  as  fresh  and  strong  as  those  of 
nature,  the  many  illustrious  men  in  every  quarter  of  the  continent, 
with  whom  he  had  acted  a  part  on  the  public  stage.  Here,  too, 
he  would  occasionally  discourse  with  all  the  wisdom  and  all  the 
eloquence  of  a  Grecian  sage,  of  the  various  duties  and  offices 
of  life;  and  pour  forth  those  lessons  of  practical  utility,  with 
which  long  experience  and  observation  had  stored  his  mind. 

Many  were  the  visiters  from  a  distance,  old  and  young,  who 
came  on  a  kind  of  pious  pilgrimage,  to  the  retreat  of  the  vete 
ran  patriot,  and  found  him  thus  delightfully  and  usefully  em 
ployed — the  old  to  gaze  upon  him  with  long-remembered  affec- 


PATRICK    HENRY.  265 

lion,  and  ancient  gratitude — the  young,  the  ardent,  and  the 
emulous,  to  behold  and  admire,  with  swimming  eyes,  the  cham 
pion  of  other  days,  and  to  look  with  a  sigh  of  generous  regret, 
upon  that  height  of  glory  which  they  could  never  hope  to  reach. 
Blessed  be  the  shade  of  that  venerable  tree — ever  hallowed  the 
spot  which  his  genius  has  consecrated  ! 

Mr.  Henry  received  these  visits  with  all  his  characteristic 
plainness  and  modesty  ;  and  never  failed  to  reward  the  fatigue 
of  the  journey  by  the  warmest  welcome,  and  by  the  unceremo 
nious  and  fascinating  familiarity,  with  which  he  would  at  once 
enter  into  conversation  with  his  new  guests,  arid  cause  them  to 
forget  that  they  were  strangers,  or  abroad.  Nor  must  the  reader 
suppose  that  in  these  conversations  he  assumed  any  airs  of  su 
periority  ;  much  less  that  his  conversation  was,  as  in  some  of 
our  conspicuous  men,  a  continued,  imperious,  and  didactic  lec 
ture.  On  the  contrary,  he  carried  into  private  life,  all  those 
principles  of  equality  which  had  governed  him  in  public. 

That  ascendancy,  indeed,  which  proceeded  from  the  superior 
energy  of  his  mind,  and  the  weight  of  his  character,  would 
manifest  itself  unavoidably,  in  the  deference  of  his  companions  ; 
but  there  was  nothing  in  his  manner  which  would  have  ever 
reminded  them  of  it.  On  the  contrary,  it  seemed  to  be  his 
study  to  cause  them  to  forget  it,  and  to  decoy  them  into  a  free 
and  equal  interchange  of  thought.  If  he  took  the  lead  in  con 
versation,  it  was  riot  because  he  sought  it ;  but  because  it  was 
forced  upon  him  by  that  silent  delight  with  which  he  perceived 
that  his  company  preferred  to  listen  to  him. 

But  it  was  in  the  bosom  of  his  own  family,  where  the  eye  of 
every  visiter  and  even  every  neighbour  was  shut  out — where 
neither  the  love  of  fame,  nor  the  fear  of  censure,  could  be  sus 
pected  of  throwing  a  false  light  upon  his  character — it  was  in- 
that  very  scene,  in  which  it  has  been  said  that  "no  man  is  a 
hero,"  that  Mr.  Henry's  heroism  shone  with  the  most  engaging 
beauty.  It  was  to  his  wife,  to  his  children,  to  his  servants, 
that  his  true  character  was  best  known :  to  this  grateful,  de-» 
voted,  happy  circle,  were  best  known  the  patient  and  tender 
forbearance,  the  kind  indulgence,  the  forgiving  mildness,  an<> 
sweetness  of  his  spirit,  those  pure  and  warm  affections,  which 
were  always  looking  out  for  the  means  of  improving  their  feli 
city,  and  that  watchful  prudence  and  circumspection,  whkh 
guarded  them  from  harm. 

What  can  be  more  amiable  than  the  playful  tenderness  with 
which  he  joined  in  the  sports  of  his  little  children,  and  the- 
boundless  indulgence  with  which  he  received  and  returned  their 
caresses  ?  **  His  visiters,"  says  one  of  my  correspondents* 
"  have  not  unfrequently  caught  him  lying  on  the  floor,  with  a 

33 


266 

group  of  these  little  ones,  climbing  over  him  in  every  direction, 
or  dancing  around  him,  with  obstreperous  mirth,  to  the  tune 
of  his  violin,  while  the  only  contest  seemed  to  be  who  should 
make  the  most  noise."  If  there  be  any  bachelor  so  cold  of 
heart  as  to  be  offended  at  this  anecdote,  I  can  only  remind  him 
of  the  remark  of  the  great  Agesilaws  to  the  friend  who  found 
him  riding  on  a  slick  among  his  children:  "Don't  mention  it, 
till  you  are  yourself  a  father  /" 

Such  were  the  scenes  of  domestic  and  social  bliss,  such  the 
delicious  tranquillity,  in  which  Mr.  Henry  passed  the  first  years 
of  his  retirement.  Yet  this  retreat,  which  so  well  deserved  to 
have  been  considered  as  sacred,  was  doomed  in  a  few  years  to 
be  disturbed  by  the  bickerings  of  political  party.  Since  Mr. 
Henry's  retirement  from  public  life,  new  parties  had  arisen  in 
the  United  States,  whose  animosities  had  been  carried  to  an 
alarming  height. 

The  federalists,  who  supported  the  measures  of  the  new 
government  throughout,  were  accused  by  their  adversaries  of 
a  disposition  to  strain  the  constructive  powers  of  the  constitu 
tion  to  their  highest  possible  pitch  ;  of  a  secret  wish  to  convert 
the  government,  into  a  substantial  monarchy  at  least ;  to  which 
purpose,  the  assumption  of  state  debts,  the  establishment  of 
the  funding  system,  and  of  the  national  bank,  the  alarming  in 
crease  of  the  public  debt,  the  imposition  of  a  heavy  load  of 
internal  taxes,  the  establishment  of  an  army  and  a  navy,  with 
all  their  consequences  of  favouritism  and  extensive  executive 
patronage,  were  alleged  to  have  been  introduced. 

They  were  branded  with  the  name  of  aristocrats,  a  name  of 
reproach  borrowed  from  the  parties  in  France;  and  were  char 
ged  with  being  inimical  to  the  cause  of  human  liberty,  as  was 
said  to  be  proved  by  their  hostility  to  the  progress  of  the 
French  revolution,  as  well  as  by  the  alarming  character  of  those 
measures  which  they  were  pushing  forward  in  America.  They 
were  suspected  and  accused  of  a  preference  for  a  government 
of  ranks  and  orders,  and  a  secret  love  of  titles  of  nobility;  of 
which  it  was  said,  one  of  their  principal  leaders  had  furnished 
a  decisive  proof,  so  far  as  he  was  concerned,  by  having  pro 
posed  the  introduction  of  titles  in  the  continental  convention 
which  had  framed  the  constitution. 

The  party  which  urged  these  charges,  took  the  name  of  re 
publicans  and  democrats  ;  declared  themselves  the  friends  of 
liberty  and  the  people,  and  the  firm  advocates  of  a  government 
of  the  people  by  the  people.  They  were  devoted,  with  enthu 
siasm,  to  the  cause  of  liberty  in  France  :  considered  man,  as. 
the  only  title  of  nobility  which  ought  to  be  admitted,  and  his 
freedom  and  happiness  as  the  sole  objects  of  government ;  this 


PATRICK    HENRY.  267 

they  contended,  was  the  principle  on  which  the  American  revo 
lution  had  turned  ;  that  the  great  objects  of  the  revolution 
could  be  no  otherwise  attained,  than  by  a  simple,  pure,  eco 
nomical,  and  chaste  administration  of  the  federal  government ; 
and  by  restricting  the  several  departments  under  the  new  con 
stitution,  to  the  express  letter  of  the  powers  assigned  to  them 
by  that  instrument. 

The  federalists  on  the  other  hand,  denied  and  repelled,  with 
great  acrimony  and  vehemence,  the  charges  which  had  been 
urged  against  them  by  their  adversaries.  They  contended  that 
the  measures  complained  of  were  warranted  by  the  constitution, 
and  were  necessary  to  give  to  the  federal  government  the  effect 
which  was  intended  by  its  adoption.  They  insisted  that  they 
were  simply  the  friends  of  order  and  good  government ;  and 
in  their  turn,  branded  their  adversaries  with  the  name  of  Jaco- 
bins,  who  having  caught  the  mania  from  France,  were  for 
overturning  all  government  and  throwing  everything  into  an 
archy  and  uproar,  in  the  hope  of  rising  themselves  to  the  top 
of  the  chaos. 

They  alleged  that  the  opposition  was  formed  of  the  dregs  of 
the  American  people,  headed  and  goaded  on  by  a  few  design 
ing  men,  and  fermented  into  faction  by  the  revolutionary  ele 
ments  thrown  among  them,  from  abroad,  in  the  shape  of 
French  and  Irish  emigrants  and  convicts.  They  insisted  that 
it  was  indispensably  necessary  to  the  peace  and  order  of  the 
American  nation,  that  those  foreign  incendiaries  should  be 
driven  out  from  the  land,  and  that  the  licentious  fury  of  our 
own  populace  should  also  be  bridled.  Under  this  impression, 
were  passed  those  alien  and  sedition  laws,  which  are  supposed 
to  have  put  an  end  to  the  federal  power  in  America. 

It  is  not  my  function  to  decide  between  these  parties ;  nor 
do  I  feel  myself  qualified  for  such  an  office.  I  have  lived  too 
near  the  times,  and  am  conscious  of  having  been  too  strongly 
excited  by  the  feelings  of  the  day,  to  place  myself  in  the  chair 
of  the  arbiter.  It  would  indeed,  be  no  difficult  task  to  present, 
under  the  engaging  air  of  historic  candour,  the  arguments  on 
one  side,  in  an  attitude  so  bold  and  commanding  ;  and  to  exhibit 
those  on  the  other,  under  a  form  so  faint  and  shadowy,  as  to 
beguile  the  reader  into  the  adoption  of  my  own  opinions. 

But  this  would  be  unjust  to  the  opposite  party,  and  a  disin 
genuous  abuse  of  the  confidence  of  the  reader.  Let  us  then  re 
mit  the  question  to  the  historian  of  future  ages  ;  who,  if  the 
particular  memory  of  the  past  times  shall  not  be  lost  in  those 
great  events  which  seem  preparing  for  the  nation,  will  proba 
bly  decide,  that,  as  in  most  family  quarrels,  both  parties  have 
been  somewhat  in  the  wrong. 


368  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

For  my  purpose,  it  is  sufficient  to  state  the  rise  and  existence 
of  those  parties,  and  the  fact  that  their  collision  had  convulsed 
the  whole  society.  Mr.  Henry,  although  removed  from  the 
immediate  scene  of  contention,  was  still  an  object  of  too  much 
consequence  to  be  viewed  with  indifference.  He  had  a  weight 
of  character  which  gave  to  his  opinions  a  preponderating  influ 
ence  on  every  subject,  and  both  parties  were  equally  anxious 
to  gain  him  to  their  cause.  His  expressions  were  watched 
with  the  most  anxious  attention,  and  it  was  not  long  before  an 
alarm  of  his  defection  from  the  popular  cause  was  given.  The 
first  occasion  of  it  I  discover,  was  the  treaty  of  seventeen  hun 
dred  and  ninety-four,  with  Great  Britain,  commonly  known 
by  the  name  of  Jay's  treaty. 

It  will  be  remembered  by  the  reader,  that  Mr.  Henry  had 
objected  to  the  constitution  on  the  ground  that  it  gave  to  the 
president  and  senate  the  whole  treaty-making  power.  This 
construction  of  the  instrument  was  not  denied  in  the  state  con 
vention  ;  but  on  the  contrary,  was  at  least  impliedly  admitted  ; 
and  the  provision  was  vindicated  on  the  ground  that  the  power 
of  treating  could  be  nowhere  more  safely  and  properly 
lodged. 

"When,  therefore,  the  republican  leaders  in  the  house  of 
representatives  claimed  a  right  to  participate  in  the  ratification 
of  Jay's  treaty,  Mr.  Henry  considered  them  as  inconsistent 
with  themselves,  and  as  departing  from  their  own  construction 
of  the  constitution.  This  charge  and  the  defence,  have  both 
been  made  known  to  me,  by  the  following  letter  from  Mr. 
Henry  to  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Aylett : — 

"  RED  HILL,  August  20,  1796. 

"My  DEAR  BETSY:  Mr.  William  Aylett's  arrival  here, 
with  your  letter,  gave  me  the  pleasure  of  hearing  of  your  wel 
fare,  and  to  hear  of  that  is  highly  gratifying  to  me,  as  I  so  sel 
dom  see  you,"  &c.  [The  rest  of  this  paragraph  relates  to 
family  affairs.] 

"As  to  the  reports  you  have  heard  of  my  changing  sides  in 
politics,  I  can  only  say  they  are  not  true.  I  am  too  old  to 
exchange  my  former  opinions,  which  have  grown  up  into  fixed 
habits  of  thinking.  True  it  is,  I  have  condemned  the  conduct 
of  our  members  in  congress,  because,  in  refusing  to  raise 
money  for  the  purposes  of  the  British  treaty,  they,  in  effect, 
would  have  surrendered  our  country,  bound  hand  and  foot,  to 
the  power  of  the  British  nation.  This  must  have  been  the 
consequence,  I  think;  but  the  reasons  for  thinking  so  are  too 
tedious  to  trouble  you  with.  The  treaty  is,  in  my  opinion,  a 
very  bad  one,  indeed. 

But  what  must  I  think  of  those  men,  whom  I  myself  warned 


PATRICK    HENRY.  260 

of  the  danger  of  giving  the  power  of  making  laws  by  means 
of  a  treaty,  to  the  president  and  senate,  when  I  see  these  same 
men  denying  the  existence  of  that  power,  which  they  insisted, 
in  our  convention,  ought  properly  to  be  exercised  by  the  presi 
dent  and  senate,  and  by  none  other?  The  policy  of  these  men, 
both  then  and  now,  appears  to  me  quite  void  of  wisdom  and 
foresight.  These  sentiments  I  did  mention  in  conversation 
in  Richmond,  and  perhaps  others  which  I  don't  remember; 
but  sure  I  am,  my  first  principle  is,  that  from  the  British  we 
have  everything  to  dread,  when  opportunities  of  oppressing 
us  shall  offer. 

"  It  seems  that  every  word  was  watched  which  I  casually 
dropped,  and  wrested  to  answer  par.ty  views.  Who  can  have 
been  so  meanly  employed,  I  know  not — nor  do  I  care;  for  I 
no  longer  consider  myself  as  an  actor  on  the  stage  of  public  life. 
It  is  time  for  me  to  retire ;  and  I  shall  never  more  appear  in  a 
public  character,  unless  some  unlooked-for  circumstance  shall 
demand  from  me  a  transient  effort,  not  inconsistent  with  pri 
vate  life — in  which  I  have  determined  to  continue. 

I  j-ee  with  concern  our  old  commandcr-in-chief  most  abu 
sively  treated — nor  are  his  long  and  great  services  remembered, 
as  any  apology  for  his  mistakes  in  an  office  to  which  he  was  to 
tally  unaccustomed.  If  he,  whose  character  as  our  leader 
during  the  whole  war  was  above  all  praise,  is  so  roughly  han 
dled  in  his  old  a^e,  what  may  be  expected  by  men  of  the  com 
mon  standard  of  character  ?  I  ever  wished  he  might  keep  him 
self  clear  of  the  office  he  bears,  and  its  attendant  difficulties — but 
I  am  sorry  to  see  the  gross  abuse  which  is  published  of  him. 
Thus,  my  dear  daughter,  have  I  pestered  you  with  a  long  let 
ter  on  politics,  which  is  a  subject  little  interesting  to.  you, 
except  as  it  rnay  involve  my  reputation.  I  have  long  learned 
the  little  value  which  is  to  be  placed  on  popularity,  acquired  by 
any  other  way  than  virtue;  and  I  have  also  learned,  that  it  is 
often  obtained  by  other  means. 

The  view  which  the  rising  greatness  of  our  country  presents 
to  my  eyes,  is  greatly  tarnished  by  the  general  prevalence  of 
deism  ;  which,  with  me,  is  but  another  name  for  vice  and  de 
pravity.  I  am,  however,  much  consoled  by  reflecting,  that  the 
religion  of  Christ  has,  from  its  first  appearance  in  the  world, 
been  attacked  in  vain,  by  all  the  wits,  philosophers,  and  wise 
•ones,  aided  by  every  power  of  man,  and  its  triumph  has  been 
complete. 

"What  is  there  in  the  wit,  or  wisdom  of  the  present  de- 
istical  writers  or  professors,  that  can  compare  them  with  Hume, 
Shaftsbury,  Bolingbroke,  and  others?  and  yet  these  have  been 
confuted,  and  their  fame  decaying ;  insomuch,  that  the  puny 


270  WIRT'S  LIFE  OP 

efforts  of  Paine  are  thrown  in  to  prop  their  tottering  fabric, 
whose  foundations  cannot  stand  the  test  of  time. 

"Among  other  strange  things  said  of  me,  I  hear  it  is  said  by 
the  deists  that  I  am  one  of  the  number  ;  and,  indeed,  that 
some  good  people  think  I  am  no  Christian.  This  thought 
gives  me  much  more  pain  than  the  appellation  of  lory  ;  because 
I  think  religion  of  infinitely  higher  importance  than  politics; 
and  I  find  much  cause  to  reproach  myself,  that  I  have  lived  so 
long,  and  have  given  no  decided  and  public  proofs  of  my  being 
a  Christian. 

"  But,  indeed,  my  dear  child,  this  is  a  character  which  I  prize 
far  above  all  this  world  has  or  can  boast.  And  among  all 
the  handsome  things  I  hear  said  of  you,  what  gives  me  the 
greatest  pleasure  is,  to  be  told  of  your  piety  and  steady  virtue. 
Be  assured  there  is  not  one  tittle,  as  to  disposition  or  character, 
in  which  my  parental  affection  for  you  would  suffer  a  wish  for 
your  changing  ;  and  it  flatters  my  pride  to  have  you  spoken  of 
as  you  are. 

"Perhaps  Mr.  Roane  and  Anne  may  have  heard  the  reports 
you  mention.  If  it  will  be  any  object  with  them  to  see  what  I 
write  you,  show  them  this.  But  my  wish  is  to  pass  the  rest 
of  my  days,  as  much  as  may  be,  unobserved  by  the  critics  of 
the  world,  who  would  show  but  little  sympathy  for  the  defi 
ciencies  to  which  old  age  is  so  liable.  May  God  bless  you, 
my  dear  Betsy,  and  your  children.  Give  my  love  to  Mr.  Ay- 
lett, 

"And  believe  me  ever  your  affectionate  father, 

"  P.  HENRY." 

This  charge,  however,  had  not  deprived  Mr.  Henry  of  the 
confidence  of  his  country  ;  for  in  th.e  session  of  the  legislature 
which  followed  the  date  of  his  letter,  he  was  for  the  third  time 
elected  the  governor  of  the  state.  The  letter  by  which  he  de 
clined  the  acceptance  of  that  office  is  as  follows  : — 

*  To  the  honourable  the  speaker  of  the  house  of  delegates. 
"  CHARLOTTE  COUNTY,  November  29,  1796. 

"  SIR  :  I  have  just  received  the  honour  of  yours,  informing 
me  of  my  appointment  to  the  chief  magistracy  of  the  common 
wealth.  And  I  have  to  beg  the  favour  of  you,  sir,  to  convey 
to  the  general  assembly,  my  best  acknowledgments,  and  wa'-m- 
est  gratitude  for  the  signal  honour  they  have  conferred  on  me. 
I  should  be  happy  if  I  could  persuade  myself,  that  my  abilities 
were  commensurate  to  the  duties  of  that  office ;  but  my  de 
clining  years  warn  me  of  my  inability. 

"I  beg  leave,  therefore,  to  decline  the  appointment,  and  to 
hope  and  trust  that  the  general  assembly  will  be  pleased  t« 


PATRICK    HENRY.  271 

excuse  me  for  doing  so ;  as  no  doubt  can  be  entertained  that 
many  of  my  fellow-citizens  possess  the  requisite  abilities  for 
this  high  trust. 

**  With  the  highest  regard,  I  am,  sir, 

"  Your  most  obedient  servant, 

"P.  HENRY." 

This  was  the  last  testimonial  of  public  confidence  which  Mr. 
Henry  received  from  his  native  state.  The  rumours  of  his  po 
litical  apostacy  became  strong  and  general.  He  was  a  prize 
worth  contending  for;  and  it  is  not  wonderful,  therefore,  that 
the  rival  parties  observed,  with  the  most  jealous  distrust,  every 
advance  which  was  made  toward  him  by  the  other,  and  inter 
preted  such  advances  as  so  many  stratagems  to  gain  hirn  over  : 
nor  is  it  wonderful,  if,  during  the  fever  of  that  hot  and  violent 
struggle,  many  things  were  supposed  to  be  seen,  which  did  not 
in  fact  exist:  and  that  those  which  did  exist  were  sometimes- 
seen  under  false  shapes  and  colours. 

It  was  reported  at  that  day,  that  on  Mr.  Jefferson's  resig- 
nation  of  the  office  of  secretary  of  state,  that  office  was  of 
fered  to  Mr.  Henry,  in  the  confidence,  that  while  the  offer 
would  gratify  him,  he  would  nevertheless  reject  it :  however 
this  may  be,  it  is  certain  that  the  embassy  to  Spain  was  offered 
to  him,  during  the  first  administration  ;  and  that  to  France  du 
ring  the  second.* 

These  offers  were  known  at  the  time  ;  and  when  compared 
with  his  advanced  age — the  large  family  with  which  he  was  en 
cumbered — his  settled  and  well-known  purpose  of  retirement — 
and  the  consequent  probability  that  these  offers  would  not  be 
accepted — and  the  sentiments  which  he  afterward  expressed, 
in  favour  of  some  of  the  measures  of  the  administration, 
which  were  extremely  obnoxious  in  Virginia — those  offers 
were  considered  by  the  republicans,  as  so  many  strokes  of  po 
litical  flattery,  addressed  to  the  vanity  of  an  old  man,  and 
which  had  been  but  too  successful  in  having  won  him  to  the 
federal  ranks. 

That  he  approved  of  the  alien  and  sedition  laws,  as  good 
measures,  is  undeniable  ;  indeed,  he  was  not  a  man  who  would 
deny  any  opinion  that  he  held  :  and,  however  honest  might 
have  been  his  conviction,  both  of  the  constitutionality  and  ex 
pediency  of  these  measures,  it  is  equally  undeniable,  that  his 
sentiments  in  relation  to  them,  combined  with  the  above  causes, 
by  which  those  sentiments  were  suspected  of  having  been  in 
fluenced,  produced  an  extremely  unpropitious  effect  on  his 
popularity  in  Virginia. 

*  On  the  authority  of  Judge  Winston. 


WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

The  charge  of  apostacy,  however,  implies  a  previous  com 
mitment  to  the  opposite  side  :  but  the  evidence  that  Mr.  Henry 
ever  stood  committed  to  the  democratic  or  to  any  other  party, 
(except  the  great  American  party  of  liberty  and  republican 
government,)  has  not  yet  been  seen  by  the  author  of  these 
sketches.  At  the  time  of  his  retirement,  it  is  believed  that  the 
post-constitutional  parties  were  riot  distinctly  marked.  He 
had  no  opportunity,  after  they  were  so  marked,  of  expressing 
his  opinion  publicly  in  favour  of  the  one  side  or  the  other. 

It  is  highly  probable,  that  his  opinions  did  not  coincide 
throughout  with  those  of  either  side:  and  it  would  be  rather 
rash  to  infer,  from  his  disapprobation  of  one  or  more  measures 
of  the  administration,  or  from  his  general  love  of  liberty,  that 
he  must  of  necessity  have  been  attached  at  first  to  the  demo 
cratic  side.  Nor  would  it  be  more  correct  to  infer,  from  his 
having  resisted  the  adoption  of  the  federal  constitution,  that 
he  was  therefore  opposed  to  the  measures  of  those  who  admin 
istered  it ;  for  the  converse  of  this  proposition,  which  must  be 
equally  true,  would  have  thrown  many  more  into  the  federal 
ranks  than  would  have  been  willing  to  acknowledge  the  con 
nexion.  Mr.  Henry  had  moreover  declared,  as  we  have  seen, 
in  the  last  speech  which  he  made  in  the  state  convention,  in 
opposition  to  the  constitution,  that  if  it  should  be  adopted,  he 
would  be  a  peaceable  citizen  ;  that  he  would  not  go  to  violence, 
but  that  he  would  seek  the  correction  of  whatever  he  thought 
amiss,  by  quiet  means. 

Upon  the  whole,  it  would  seem  more  liberal,  more  consonant 
to  the  high  character  of  Mr.  Henry's  mind,  with  his  time  of 
life,  and  with  that  distant  arid  feeble  connexion  which  he  now 
considered  himself  as  holding  with  politics,  and  indeed  with 
the  world — to  believe  that  he  looked,  without  passion  or  pre 
judice  of  any  kind,  on  the  course  of  the  administration,  ap 
proving  or  condemning,  according  to  his  own  judgment,  with 
out  reference  to  the  pleasure  or  opinions  of  either  side:  or  if 
we  must  suppose  him  under  personal  influence  of  any  kind, 
would  it  have  been  unpardonable  in  him,  to  have  been  intluen- 
ced  by  the  opinions  of  that  man  who  had  ever  stood  first  both 
in  his  judgment  and  affections,  and  whom  all  America  acknowl 
edged  as  the  father  of  his  country  ?  Other  natural  causes,  too, 
may  be  fairly  considered  as  having  united  their  influence  in 
producing  this  difference  of  political  sentiment,  between  Mr. 
Henry  and  the  majority  of  his  state. 

In  the  year  seventeen  hundred  and  ninety-seven,  his  health 
began  to  decline,  and  continued  to  sink  gradually  to  the   mo 
ment  of  his  death.*     He  had  now  passed  through  a  stormy  lifa 
*  Judge  Winston. 


PATRICK    HENRY.  273 

to  his  sixtieth  year,  and  the  vigour  of  his  mind,  exhausted 
more  by  past  toils  than  by  years,  began  to  give  way.  Those 
energies  which  had  enabled  him  to  brave^the  power  of  Great 
Britain,  and  to  push  forward  the  glorious  revolution  which 
made  us  free,  existed  no  longer  in  their  original  force. 

The  usual  infirmities  of  age  and  disease  began  to  press, 
sorely  and  heavily,  upon  his  sinking  spirits.  He  was  startled 
by  that  clash  of  contending  parties,  which  rang  continually 
around  him,  and  invaded,  with  perpetually  increasing  horror,, 
the  stillness  of  his'retreat.  His  retirement  cut  him  off,  almost 
entirely,  from  all  communication  with  those  who  were  best  able 
to  explain  the  grounds,  as  well  as  the  character  and  measure 
of  opposition  to  the  offensive  measures,  which  was  intended  ; 
and  the  spirit  and  views  of  that  opposition  were,  no  doubt,  ag 
gravated  to  him  by  report. 

Acting  as  those  things  did  on  the  mind  of  an  infirm  old  man; 
worn  out  by  the  toils  and  troubles  of  the  past  revolution,  and 
naturally  wishing  for  repose  ;  alarmed  too,  and  agonized  by 
the  hideous  scenes  of  that  revolution  which  was  then  going  on 
in  France;  and  tortured  by  the  apprehension  that  those  scenes 
were  about  to  be  acted  over  again  in  his  own  country — it  is  not 
surprising,  that  he  was  dismayed  by  the  vehemence  of  that  polit 
ical  strife  which  then  agitated  the  United  States  ;  nor  would  it 
be  surprising,  if  his  solicitude  to  allay  the  ferment  and  restore 
the  peace  of  society,  should,  in  some  degree,  have  obscured 
the  decisions  of  his  mind  ;  and  placed  him,  rather  by  his  fears 
than  his  judgment,  in  opposition  to  the  forcible  resistance, 
which  he  had  been  erroneously  led  to  consider  as  meditated  by 
the  democratic  party. 

In  a  mind  thus  prepared,  the  strong  and  animated  resolu 
tions  of  the  Virginia  assembly,  in  seventeen  hundred  and 
ninety-eight,  in  relation  to  the  alien  and  sedition  laws,  conjured 
up  the  most  frightful  visions  of  civil  war,  disunion,  blood,  and 
anarchy;  and  under  the  impulse  of  these  phantoms,  to  make 
what  he  considered  a  virtuous  effort  for  his  country,  he  pre 
sented  himself  in  Charlotte  county,  as  a  candidate  for  the  house 
of  delegates,  at  the  spring  election  of  seventeen  hundred  and 
ninety-nine. 

On  the  day  of  the  election,  as  soon  as  he  appeared  on  the 
ground,  he  was  surrounded  by  the  admiring  and  adoring  crowd, 
and  whithersoever  he  moved,  the  concourse  followed  him.  A 
preacher  of  the  Baptist  Church,  whose  piety  was  wounded  by 
this  homage  paid  to  a  mortal,  asked  the  people  aloud,  "Why 
they  thus  followed  Mr.  Henry  about? — Mr.  Henry,"  said  he, 
**  is  not  a  god  !" 

44  No,"  said  Mr.  Henry,  deeply  affected  both  by  the   scene 


274  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

and  the  remark :  "  no,  indeed,  my  friend  ;  I  am  but  a  poor 
worm  of  the  dust — as  fleeting  and  unsubstantial  as  the  shadow 
of  the  cloud  that  flies  over  your  fields,  and  is  remembered  no 
more."  The  tone  with  which  this  was  uttered,  and  the  look 
which  accompanied  it,  affected  every  heart,  and  silenced  every 
voice.  Envy  and  opposition  were  disarmed  by  his  humility; 
the  recollection  of  his  past  services  rushed  upon  every  mem- 
orv,  and  he  "read  his  history"  in  their  swimming  eyes. 

Before  the  polls  were  opened,  he  addressed  the  people  of  the 
county  to  the  following  effect: — "He  told  them  that  the  late 
proceedings  of  the  Virginian  assembly  had  filled  him  with  ap 
prehensions  and  alarm ;  that  they  had  planted  thorns  upon  his 
pillow  ;  that  they  had  drawn  him  from  that  happy  retirement 
which  ;t  had  pleasod  a  bountiful  Providence  to  bestow,  and  in 
which  he  had  hoped  to  pass,  in  quiet,  the  remainder  of  his 
days  ;  that  the  state  had  quitted  the  sphere  in  which  she  had 
been  placed  by  the  constitution  ;  and  in  daring  to  pronounce 
upon  the  validity  of  federal  laws,  had  gone  out  of  her  jurisdic 
tion  in  a  manner  not  warranted  by  any  authority,  and  in  the 
highest  degree  alarming  to  every  considerate  man  ;  that  such 
opposition  on  the  part  of  Virginia,  to  the  acts  of  the  general 
government,  must  beget  their  enforcement  by  military  power; 
•  hat  this  would  probably  produce  civil  war ;  civil  war,  foreign 
alliances  ;  and  that  foreign  alliances  must  necessarily  end  in 
subjugation  to  the  powers  called  in. 

"  He  conjured  the  people  to  pause  and  consider  well,  before 
they  rushed  into  such  a  desperate  condition,  from  which  there 
could  be  no  retreat.  He  painted  to  their  imaginations,  Wash 
ington,  at  the  head  of  a  numerous  and  well-appointed  army, 
inflicting  upon  them  military  execution:  *  And  where  (he  asked) 
are  our  resources  to  meet  such  a  conflict? — Where  is  the  citi 
zen  of  America  who  will  dare  to  lift  his  hand  against  the  father 
of  his  country  ?' 

"  A  drunken  man  in  the  crowd  threw  up  his  arm,  and  ex 
claimed  that  'he  dared  to  do  it/ — 'No,'  answered  Mr.  Henry, 
rising  aloft  in  all  his  majesty:  'you  dare  not  do  it  :  in  such  a 
parricidal  attempt,  the  steel  would  drop  from  your  nerveless 
arm!'  'The  look  and  gesture  at  this  moment,  (says  a  corres 
pondent,)  gave  to  these  words  an  energy  on  my  mind  unequalled 
by  anything  that  I  have  ever  witnessed.'  Mr.  Henry,  pro 
ceeding  in  his  address  to  the  people,  asked — '  whether  the 
county  of  Charlotte  would  have  any  authority  to  dispute  an 
obedience  to  the  laws  of  Virginia;'  and  he  pronounced  Virginia 
to  be  to  the  Union  what  the  county  of  Charlotte  was  to  her. 

"Having  denied  tbe  right  of  a  state  to  decide  upon  the  con 
stitutionality  of  federal  laws,  he  added,  that  perhaps  it  might 


PATRICK    HENRY.  275 

be  necessary  to  say  something  of  the  merits  of  the  laws  in 
question.  His  private  opinion  was,  that  they  were  good  and 
proper.  But,  whatever  might  be  their  merits,  it  belonged  to 
the  people,  who  held  the  reins  over  the  head  of  congress,  and 
to  them  alone,  to  say  whether  they  were  acceptable  or  othei 
wise  to  Virginians ;  arid  that  this  must  be  done  by  way  of  peti 
tion.  That  congress  were  as  much  our  representatives  as  the 
assembly,  and  had  as  good  a  right  to  our  confidence. 

"  He  had  seen  with  regret,  the  unlimited  power  over  the 
purse  and  sword  consigned  to  the  general  government;  but 
that  he  had  been  overruled,  and  it  was  now  necessary  to  sub 
mit  to  the  constitutional  exercise  of  that  power.  'If,'  said  he, 
1  I  am  asked  what  is  to  be  done,  when  a  people  feel  themselves 
intolerably  oppressed,  my  answer  is  ready  : — Overturn  the 
government.  But  do  not,  I  beseeech  you,  carry  matters  to  this 
this  length,  without  provocation.  Wait  at  least  until  some  in 
fringement  is  made  upon  your  rights,  and  which  cannot  other 
wise  be  redressed  ;  for  if  ever  you  recur  to  another  change, 
you  may  bid  adieu  for  ever  to  representative  government. 

**  You  can  never  exchange  the  present  government  but  for  a 
monarchy.  If  the  administration  have  done  wrong,  let  us  all 
go  wrong  together,  rather  than  split  into  factions,  which  must 
destroy  that  union  upon  which  our  existence  hangs.  Let  us 
preserve  our  strength  for  the  French,  the  English,  the  Germans, 
or  whoever  else  shall  dare  to  invade  our  territory,  and  not  ex 
haust  it  in  civil  commotions  and  intestine  wars.'  He  concluded, 
by  declaring  his  design  to  exert  himself  in  the  endeavour  to  allay 
the  heart-burnings  and  jealousies  which  had  been  fomented  in 
the  state  legislature  ;  and  he  fervently  prayed,  if  he  was  deem 
ed  unworthy  to  effect  it,  that  it  might  be  reserved  to  some 
other  and  abler  hand,  toextend  this  blessing-over  the  community." 

This  was  the  substance  of  the  speech  written  down  at  the 
time  by  one  of  his  hearers.  "There  was,"  says  the  writer, 
"an  emphasis  in  his  language,  to  which,  like  the  force  of  his- 
articulation,  and  the  commanding  expression  of  his  eye,  no 
representation  can  do  justice ;  yet  I  am  conscious  of  having 
given  a  correct  transcript  of  his  opinions,  and  in  many  in 
stances,  his  very  expression." 

Such  was  the  last  effort  of  Mr.  Henry's  eloquence  :  the 
power  of  the  noonday  sun  was  gone;  but  its  setting  splendours 
were  not  less  beautiful  and  touching.  After  this  speech,  the 
polls  were  opened ;  and  he  was  elected  by  his  usual  command 
ing  majority.  His  intention  having  been  generally  known  for 
some  time  before  the  period  of  the  state  elections,  the  most 
formidable  preparations  were  made  to  oppose  him  in  the  as 
sembly. 


$76  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

Mr.  Madison,  (the  late  president  of  the  United  States,)  Mr. 
Giles,  of  Amelia,  Mr.  Taylor,  of  Caroline,  Mr.  Nicholas  of 
Albemarle,  and  a  host  of  young  men  of  shining  talents  from 
every  part  of  the  state,  were  arrayed  in  the  adverse  rank,  and 
commanded  a  decided  majority  in  the  house.  But  Heaven,  in 
its  mercy,  saved  him  from  the  unequal  conflict.  The  disease 
which  had  been  preying  upon  him  for  two  years,  now  hastened 
to  its  crisis ;  and  on  the  sixth  day  of  June,  seventeen  hundred 
and  ninety-nine,  this  friend  of  liberty  and  of  man  was  no 
move ! 

Here  let  us  pause.  The  storm  of  seventeen  hundred  and 
ninety-nine,  thank  Heaven!  has  passed  away;  and  we  again 
enjoy  the  calm  and  sunshine  of  domestic  peace.  We  are  able, 
now,  to  see  with  other  eyes,  and  to  feel  with  far  different 
hearts.  Who  is  there  that,  looking  back  upon  the  part  he  bore 
in  those  scenes,  can  say  that  he  was  at  no  time  guilty  of  any 
fault  of  conduct,  any  error  of  opinion,  or  any  vicious  excess 
of  feeling?  The  man  who  can  say  this,  is  either  very  much 
to  be  pitied,  or  most  exceedingly  to  be  envied. 

But  whatever  we  may  be  disposed  to  say  or  think  of  our 
selves,  there  can  be  very  little  doubt,  that  that  Being  who  is 
the  searcher  of  hearts,  sees  very  much  during  that  period,  to 
be  forgiven  in  us  all.  It  would,  indeed,  be  presumptuous  in 
the  extreme,  amid  the  universal  admission  which  is  made  of 
the  imperfections  of  human  nature,  in  the  happiest  circum 
stances,  to  contend  for  its  infallibility,  while  acting  under 
the  scourge  of  the  most  angry  and  vindictive  passions. 

Let  it  be  admitted,  then,  that  during  the  period  of  which  we 
are  speaking,  Mr.  Henry  was  guilty  of  a  political  aberration: 
but  let  all  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  his  case  which  have 
been  enumerated,  be  taken  into  the  account,  and  let  it  be  far 
ther  remembered,  that  if  he  did  go  astray,  as  the  majority  of 
the  state  believe,  he  strayed  in  company  with  the  father  of  his 
country — and  where  is  the  heart  so  cold  and  thankless,  as  to 
balance  a  mistake  thus  committed,  against  a  long  life  of  such 
solid,  splendid,  and  glorious  utility?  Certainly  not  in  Vir* 
ginia — and  it  is  to  Virginians  only  that  this  appeal  is  made. 
The  sentiments  now  so  universally  expressed  in  relation  to 
Mr.  Henry,  evince,  that  the  age  of  party  resentment  has  pass 
ed  away,  and  that  that  of  the  noblest  gratitude  has  taken  its 
place.  But  let  us  return  to  our  narrative. 

At  the  session  of  the  assembly  immediately  following  Mr.  Hen 
ry's  death,  before  the  spirit  of  party  had  time  to  relent,  and 
give  way  to  that  generous  feeling  of  grateful  veneration  for 
him,  which  now  pervades  the  state,  a  federal  member  of  the 
house  moved  the  following  resolution : — 


PATRICK    HENRY. 


277 


"  The  general  assembly  of  Virginia,  as  a  testimonial  of  their 
Veneration  for  the  character  of  their  late  illustrious  fellow- 
citizen,  Patrick  Henry,  whose  unrivalled  eloquence  and  supe 
rior  talents  were,  in  times  of  peculiar  peril  and  distress,  so 
uniformly,  so  powerfully,  and  so  successfully,  devoted  to  the 
cause  of  freedom,  and  of  his  country — and,  in  order  to  invite 
the  present  and  future  generations  to  an  imitation  of  his  vir 
tues,  and  an  emulation  of  his  fame — 

"Resolved,  That  the  executive  be  authorized  and  requested, 
to  procure  a  marble  bust  of  the  said  Patrick  Henry,  at  the  pub 
lic  expense,  and  to  cause  the  same  to  be  placed  in  one  of  the 
niches  of  the  hall  of  the  house  of  delegates." 

Nothing  could  have  been  more  unfortunate  for  the  success 
of  this  resolution,  than  the  time  at  which  it  was  brought  for 
ward,  and  the  mover  by  whom  it  was  offered.  The  time,  as 
we  have  seen,  was  during  that  paroxysm  of  displeasure  against 
Mr.  Henry,  which  even  his  death,  although  it  had  abated,  had 
not  entirely  allayed :  and  the  mover  was  a  gentleman  who  had 
himself  been  recently  counted  on  the  republican  side  of  the 
house,  and  was  now  also  smarting  under  the  charge  of  apos- 
tacy. 

All  the  angry  passions  of  the  house  immediately  arose  at 
such  a  proposition,  from  such  a  quarter.  A  republican  mem 
ber  moved  to  lay  the  resolution  on  the  table ;  the  gentleman 
who  offered  it  replied  with  warmth,  that  if  it  were  so  disposed 
of  he  would  never  call  it  up  again.  It  was  laid  upon  the  table, 
and  has  been  heard  of  no  more. 

Thus  lived,  and  thus  died,  the  celebrated  Patrick  Henry  of 
Virginia ;  a  man  who  justly  deserves  to  be  ranked  among  the 
highest  ornaments  and  noblest  benefactors  of  his  country. 
Had  his  lot  been  cast  in  the  republics  of  Greece  or  Rome,  his 
name  would  have  been  enrolled  by  some  immortal  pen,  among 
the  expellers  of  tyrants  and  the  champions  of  liberty  :  the 
proudest  monuments  of  national  gratitude  would  have  risen  to- 
his  honour,  and  handed  down  his  memory  to  future  genera 
tions. 

As  it  is,  his  fame  as  yet,  is  left  to  rest  upon  tradition,  and  on 
that  short  notice  which  general  history  can  take  of  him  ;  while- 
no  memorial,  no  slab  even,  raised  by  the  hand  of  national  grat 
itude,  points  us  to  his  grave,  or  tells  where  sleep  the  ashes  of 
the  patriot  and  the  sage.  May  we  not  hope,  that  this  reproach 
upon  the  state  will  soon  be  wiped  away,  and  that  ample  atone- 
ment  will  be  made  for  our  past  neglect? 

24 


278  WIRT'S  LIFE  or 


CHAPTER  XI. 

Delineations  of  Mr.  Henry's  private  Character — Anecdotes  of  Mr.  Lee — of 
Mr.  Gallatin— Mr.  Henry's  Political  Foresight— Description  of  his  Person- 
Further  General  View  of  his  Character—Conclusion. 

MR.  HENRY,  by  his  two  marriages,  was  the  father  of  fifteen 
children.  By  his  first  wife  he  had  six,  of  whom  two  only  sur 
vived  him  ;  by  his  last  he  had  six  sons  and  three  daughters, 
all  of  whom,  together  with  their  mother,  were  living  at  his 
death. 

He  had  been  fortunate  during  the  latter  part  of  his  life;  and, 
chiefly  by  the  means  of  judicious  purchases  of  lands,  had  left 
his  family,  large  as  it  was,  not  only  independent,  but  rich. 

In  his  habits  of  living,  he  was  remarkably  temperate  and 
frugal.  He  seldom  drank  anything  but  water  ;  and  his  table, 
though  abundantly  spread,  was  furnished  only  with  the  most 
simple  viands.  Necessity  had  imposed  those  habits  upon  him 
in  the  earlier  part  of  his  life  ;  and  use,  as  well  as  reason,  now 
made  them  his  choice. 

His  children  were  raised  up  with  little  or  no  restraint.  He 
seems  not  to  have  thought  very  highly  of  early  education.  It 
is  indeed  probable,  that  his  own  success,  which  was  attributa 
ble  almost  entirely  to  the  natural  powers  of  his  mind,  had  di 
minished  the  importance  of  an  extensive  education  in  his  view. 
But  although  they  were  suffered  to  run  wild  for  some  years, 
and,  indeed,  committed  to  the  sole  guidance  of  nature,  to  a 
much  later  period  than  usual,  yet  they  were  finally  all  well  ed 
ucated  ;  and  not  only  by  the  reflected  worth  of  their  father, 
but  by  their  own  merits,  have  always  occupied  a  most  respect 
able  station  in  society. 

Mr.  Henry's  conversation  was  remarkably  pure  and  chaste. 
He  never  swore.  He  was  never  heard  to  take  the  name  of 
his  Maker  in  vain.  He  was  a  sincere  Christian,  though  after 
a  form  of  his  own  ;  for  he  was  never  attached  to  any  particu 
lar  religious  society,  and  never,  it  is  believed,  communed  with 
any  church.  A  friend  who  visited  him  not  long  before  his 
death,  found  him  engaged  in  reading  the  Bible  : — "Here,"  said 
he,  holding  it  up,  "is  a  book  worth  more  than  all  the  other 
books  that  were  ever  printed  :  yet  it  is  my  misfortune  never  to 
have  found  time  to  read  it,  with  the  proper  attention  and  feel 
ing,  till  lately.  I  trust  in  the  mercy  of  Heaven  that  it  is  not 
yet  too  late." 

He  was  much  pleased  with  Soamc  Jenyns'  view  of  the  in 
ternal  evidences  of  the  Christian  religion ;  so  much  so,  that 


PATRICK    HENRY.  279 

about  the  year  seventeen  hundred  and  ninety,  he  had  an  impres 
sion  of  it  struck  at  his  own  expense,  and  distributed  among  the 
people.  His  other  favourite  works  on  the  subject  were  Dod- 
dridge's  "  Rise  and  Progress  of  Religion  in  the  Soul,"  and 
Butler's  "Analogy  of  Religion,  Natural  and  Revealed."  This 
latter  work,  he  used  at  one  period  of  his  life  to  style,  by  way 
of  pre-eminence,  his  Bible.  The  selection  proves  not  only 
the  piety  of  his  temper,  but  the  correctness  of  his  taste,  and 
his  relish  for  profound  and  vigorous  disquisition. 

His  morals  were  strict.  As  a  husband,  a  father,  a  master, 
he  had  no  superior.  He  was  kind  and  hospitable  to  the  stran 
ger,  and  most  friendly  and  accommodating  to  his  neighbours. 
In  his  dealings  with  the  world,  he  was  faithful  to  his  promise, 
and  punctual  in  his  contracts,  to  the  utmost  of  his  power. 

Yet  we  do  not  claim  for  him  a  total  exemption  from  the  fail 
ures  of  humanity.  Moral  perfection  is  not  the  p  operty  of 
man.  The  love  of  money  is  said  to  have  been  one  of  Mr. 
Henry's  strongest  passions.  In  his  desire  for  accumulation,  he 
was  charged  with  wringing  from  the  hands  of  his  clients,  and 
more  particularly  those  of  the  criminals  whom  he  defended, 
fees  rather  too  exorbitant.  He  was  censured  too,  for  an  at 
tempt  to  locate  the  shores  of  the  Chesapeake,  which  had  here 
tofore  been  used  as  a  public  common,  although  there  was,  at 
that  time,  no  law  of  the  state  which  protected  them  from  lo 
cation. 

In  one  of  his  earlier  purchases  of  land,  he  was  blamed  also 
for  having  availed  himself  of  the  existing  laws  of  the  state,  in 
paying  for  it  in  the  depreciated  paper  currency  of  the  country  ; 
nor  was  he  free  from  censure  on  account  of  some  participation 
which  he  is  said  to  have  had  in  the  profits  of  the  Yazoo  trade. 
He  was  accused,  too,  of  having  been  rather  more  vain  of 
his  wealth,  toward  the  close  of  his  life,  than  became  a  man 
so  great  in  other  respects.  Let  these  things  be  admitted,  and 
"let  the  man  who  is  without  fault  cast  the  first  stone." 

In  mitigation  of  these  charges,  if  they  be  true,  it  ought  to 
be  considered  that  Mr.  Henry,  had  been,  during  the  greater 
part  of  his  life,  intolerably  oppressed  by  poverty  and  all  its 
distressing  train  of  consequences ;  that  the  family  for  which 
he  had  to  provide  was  very  large  ;  and  that  the  bar,  although 
it  has  been  called  the  road  to  honour,  was  not  in  those  days  the 
road  to  wealth.  With  these  considerations  in  view,  charity 
may  easily  pardon  him  for  having  considered  only  the  legality 
of  the  means  which  he  used  to  acquire  an  independence ;  and 
she  can  easily  excuse  him  too,  for  having  felt  the  success  of 
his  endeavors  a  little  more  sensibly  than  might  have  been  be 
coming. 


280  WIRT'S  LIFE  or 

He  was  certainly  neither  proud,  nor  hard-hearted  nor  penu 
rious :  if  he  was  either,   there  can  be  no  reliance  on  human 
testimony  ;  which  represents  him  as  being,  in  his  general  inter 
course  with  the  world,  not   only   rigidly  honest,  but  one  of 
the  kindest,  gentlest,  and  most  indulgent  of  human  beings. 

While  we  are  on  this  ungrateful  subject  of  moral  imperfec 
tion,  the  fidelity  of  history  requires  us  to  notice  another  charge 
against  Mr.  Henry.  His  passion  for  fame  is  said  to  have  been 
too  strong;  he  was  accused  of  a  wish  to  monopolize  the  public 
favour ;  and  under  the  influence  of  this  desire,  to  have  felt  no 
gratification  in  the  rising  fame  of  certain  conspicuous  charac 
ters  ;  to  have  indulged  himself  in  invidious  and  unmerited  re 
marks  upon  them,  and  to  have  been  at  the  bottom  of  a  cabal 
against  one  of  the  most  eminent.  If  these  things  were  so 
— alas  !  poor  human  nature  ! 

It  is  certain  that  these  charges  are  very  inconsistent  with  his 
general  character.  So  far  from  being  naturally  envious,  and 
disposed  to  keep  back  modest  merit,  one  of  the  finest  traits  in 
his  character  was,  the  parental  tenderness  with  which  he  took 
by  the  hand  every  young  man  of  merit,  covered  him  with  his 
aegis  in  the  legislature  and  led  him  forward  at  the  bar.  In  re 
lation  to  his  first  great  rival  in  eloquence,  Richard  Henry  Lee, 
he  not  only  did  ample  justice  to  him  on  every  occasion,  in  pub 
lic,  but  defended  his  fame  in  private,  with  all  the  zeal  of  a 
brother  ;  as  is  demonstrated  by  an  original  correspondence 
between  those  two  eminent  men,  now  in  the  hands  of  the 
author. 

Of  Colonel  Innis,  his  next  great  rival,  he  entertained,  and 
uniformly  expressed,  the  most  exalted  opinion  ;  and  in  the 
convention  of  1788,  as  will  be  remembered,  paid  a  compliment 
to  his  eloquence,  at  once  so  splendid,  so  happy,  and  so  just, 
that  it  will  live  for  ever.  The  debates  of  that  convention 
abound  with  the  most  unequivocal  and  ardent  declarations  of 
his  respect,  for  the  talents  and  virtues  of  the  other  eminent 
gentlemen  who  were  arrayed  against  him — Mr.  Madison — 
Mr.  Pendleton — Mr.  Randolph. 

Even  the  justly  great  and  overshadowing  fame  of  Mr.  Jef 
ferson  never  extorted  from  him,  in  public  at  least,  one  invidi 
ous  remark  ;  on  the  contrary,  the  name  of  that  gentleman,  who 
was  then  in  France,  having  been  introduced  into  the  debates  of 
the  convention,  for  the  purpose  of  borrowing  the  weight  of 
his  opinion,  Mr.  Henry  spoke  of  him  in  the  strongest  and 
warmest  terms,  not  only  of  admiration,  but  of  affection — sty 
ling  him  "our  illustrious  fellow-citizen" — "our  enlightened 
and  worthy  countryman" — " our  common  friend" 

The  inordinate  love  of  money   and   of  fame,  are,  certainly* 


PATRICK    HENRY, 


281 


base  and  degrading  passions.  They  have  sometimes  tarnish 
ed  characters  otherwise  the  most  bright ;  but  they  will  find  no 
advocate  or  apologist  in  any  virtuous  bosom.  In  relation  to 
Mr.  Henry,  however,  we  may  be  permitted  to  doubt  whether 
the  facts  on  which  these  censures  (so  inconsistent  with  his  gen 
eral  character)  are  grounded,  have  not  been  misconceived ; 
and  whether  so  much  of  them  as  is  really  true,  may  not  be 
fairly  charged  to  the  common  account  of  human  imperfection. 

Mr.  Henry's  great  intellectual  defect  was  his  indolence.  To 
this  it  was  owing,  that  he  never  possessed  that  admirable  alert 
ness  and  vigouros  versatility  of  mind,  which  turns  promptly 
to  everything,  attends  to  everything,  arranges  everything, 
and  by  systematizing  its  operations,  despatches  each  in  its 
proper  time,  and  place  and  manner.  To  the  same  cause  it  is  to 
be  ascribed,  that  he  never  possessed  that  patient  drudgery,  and 
that  ready,  neat,  copious,  and  masterly  command  of  details, 
which  forms  so  essential  a  part  of  the  duties  both  of  the  states 
man  and  the  lawyer. 

Hence,  too,  he  did  not  avail  himself  of  the  progress  of  sci 
ence  and  literature,  in  his  age.  He  had  not,  as  he  might  have 
done,  amassed  those  ample  stores  of  various,  useful,  and  curious 
knowledge,  which  are  so  naturally  expected  to  be  found  in  a 
great  man.  His  library  (of  which  an  inventory  has  been  fur 
nished  to  the  author)  was  extremely  small ;  composed  not  on 
ly  of  a  very  few  books,  but  those,  too,  commonly  odd  volumes. 
Of  science  and  literature,  he  knew  little  or  nothing  more  than 
was  occasionly  gleaned  from  conversation.  It  is  not  easy  to 
conceive,  what  a  mind  like  his  might  have  achieved  in  either, 
or  both  of  these  walks,  had  it  been  properly  trained  at  first,  or 
industriously  occupied  in  those  long  intervals  of  leisure  which 
he  threw  away. 

One  thing,  however,  may  be  safely  pronounced  ;  that  had 
that  mind  of  Herculean  strength  been  either  so  trained,  or  so 
occupied,  he  would  have  left  behind  him  some  written  monu 
ment,  compared  with  which,  even  statutes  and  pillars  would 
have  been  but  the  ephemerae  of  a  day.  But  he  seems  to  have 
been  of  Hobbes's  opinion,  who  is  reported  to  have  said  of 
himself,  that  "if  he  had  read  as  much  as  other  men,  he  should 
have  been  as  ignorant  as  they  were."*  Mr.  Henry's  book 
was  the  great  volume  of  human  nature.  In  this,  he  was  more 
deeply  read  than  any  of  his  countrymen.  He  knew  men 
thoroughly  ;  and  hence  arose  his  great  power  of  persuasion. f 

*  Bayle  :  article  Hobbes. 

t  "  It  is  in  vain,"  says  the  Chancellor  D'Aguesseau,  "  that  the  orator  flatters 
himself  with  having  the  talent  to  persuade  men,  if  he  has  not  acquired  that  of 
knowing  them."  Discourse  i.,  p.  1. 


282  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

His  preference  of  this  study,  is  manifested  by  the  following 
incident : — he  met  once,  in  a  bookstore,  with  the  late  Mr. 
Ralph  Wormley,  who,  although  a  great  bookworm,  was  infi 
nitely  more  remarkable  for  his  ignorance  of  men,  than  Mr. 
Henry  was  for  that  of  books. — "What,  Mr.  Wormley,"  said 
he,  "still  buying  books?"  "Yes,"  said  Mr.  Wormley,  "I 
have  just  heard  of  a  new  work,  which  I  am  extremely  anxious 
to  peruse."  "Take  my  word  for  it,"  said  he,  "  Mr.  Wormley, 
"  we  arc  too  old  to  read  books :  read  men — they  are  the  only 
volumes  that  we  can  peruse  to  advantage."  But  Mr.  Henry 
might  have  perused  both  with  infinite  advantage,  not  only 
to  himself,  but  to  his  country,  and  to  the  world  ;  and  that 
he  did  not  do  it,  may,  it  is  believed,  be  fairly  ascribed,  rather 
to  the  indolence  of  his  temper,  than  the  deliberate  decision  of 
his  judgment. 

Judge  Winston  says,  that  "he  was,  throughout  life,  negli 
gent  of  his  dress  :"  but  this,  it  is  apprehended,  applied  rather 
to  his  habits  in  the  country,  than  to  his  appearance  in  public. 
At  the  bar  of  the  general  court,  he  always  appeared  in  a  full 
suit  of  black  cloth,  or  velvet,  and  a  tie  wig,  which  was  dressed 
and  powdered  in  the  highest  style  of  forensic  fashion ;  in  the 
winter  season,  too,  according  to  the  costume  of  the  day,  he 
wore  over  his  other  apparel  an  ample  cloak  of  scarlet  cloth ; 
and  thus  attired,  made  a  figure  bordering  on  grandeur.  While 
he  filled  the  executive  chair,  he  is  said  to  have  been  justly  at 
tentive  to  his  dress,  and  appearance;  "riot  being  disposed  to 
afford  the  occasion  of  humiliating  comparisons  between  the 
past  and  present  government." 

He  had  long  since,  too,  laid  aside  the  offensive  rusticity  of 
his  juvenile  manners.  His  manners,  indeed,  were  still  unosten 
tatious,  frank,  and  simple ;  but  they  had  all  that  natural  ease 
and  unaffected  gracefulness,  which  distinguish  the  circles  of  the 
polite  and  wellbred.  On  occasions,  too,  where  state  and  cere 
mony  were  expected,  there  was  no  man  who  could  act  better  his 
part.  I  have  had  a  description  of  Mr.  Henry,  entering,  in  the 
full  dress  which  I  have  mentioned,  the  hall  of  delegates,  at 
whose  bar  he  was  about  to  appear  as  an  advocate,  and  saluting 
the  house,  all  around,  with  a  dignity  and  even  majesty,  that 
would  have  done  honour  to  the  most  polished  courtier  in 
Europe. 

This,  however,  was  only  on  extraordinary  occasions,  when 
such  a  deportment  was  expected,  and  was  properly  in  its  place. 
In  general,  his  manners  were  those  of  the  plain  Virginian  gen 
tleman — kind — open — candid — and  conciliating — warm  with' 
out  insincerity,  and  polite  without  pomp — neither  chilling  by 
his  reserve,  nor  fatiguing  by  his  loquacity — but  adapting  him- 


PATRICK    HENRY.  283 

self,  without  an  effort,  to  the  character  of  his  company.  "  He 
would  be  pleased  and  cheerful,"  says  a  correspondent,  "  with 
persons  of  any  class  or  condition,  vicious  and  abandoned  per 
sons  only  excepted  ;  he  preferred  those  of  character  and  talents, 
but  would  be  amused  with  any  who  could  contribute  to  his 
amusement." 

He  had  himself  a  vein  of  pleasantry,  which  was  extremely 
umusing,  without  detracting  from  his  dignity.  His  companions, 
although  perfectly  at  their  ease  with  him,  were  never  known  to 
treat  him  with  degrading  familiarities.  Their  love  and  their 
respect  for  him  equally  forbade  it.  Nor  had  they  any  dread  of 
an  assault  upon  their  feelings ;  for  their  was  nothing  cruel  in 
his  wit. 

The  tomahawk  and  scalping-knife  were  no  part  of  his  collo 
quial  apparatus.  He  felt  no  pleasure  in  seeing  the  victim 
writhe  under  his  stroke.  The  benignity  of  his  spirit  could  not 
have  borne  such  a  sight  without  torture.  He  found  himself 
happiest.in  communicating  happiness  to  others.  His  conver 
sation  was  instructive  and  delightful ;  stately  where  it  should 
be  so,  but  in  general,  easy,  familiar,  sprightly,  and  entertaining  ; 
always,  however,  good-humoured,  and  calculated  to  amuse 
without  wounding. 

As  a  specimen  of  this  light  and  good-natured  pleasantry,  the 
following  anedote  has  been  furnished :  Mr.  Henry,  together 
with  Mr.  Richard  H.  Lee,  and  several  other  conspicuous  mem 
bers  of  the  assembly,  were  invited  to  pass  the  evening  and 
night  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Edmund  Randolph,  in  the  neighbour 
hood  of  Richmond.  Mr.  Lee,  who  was  as  brilliant  and  copious 
in  conversation  as  in  debate,  had  amused  the  company  to  a  very 
late  hour,  by  descanting  on  the  genius  of  Cervantes,  particu 
larly  as  exhibited  in  his  chef  d?  ozuvre,  Don  Quixote. 

The  dissertation  had  been  continued  rather  too  long  :  the 
company  began  to  yawn,  when  Mr.  Henry,  who  had  observed 
it,  although  Mr.  Lee  had  not,  rose  slowly  from  his  chair,  and 
remarked  as  he  walked  across  the  room,  that  Don  Quixote  was 
certainly  a  most  excellent  work,  and  most  skilfully  adapted  to 
the  purpose  of  the  author:  "but,"  said  he,  "Mr.  Lee,"  stop 
ping  before  him,  with  a  most  significant  archness  of  look, 
'*  you  have  overlooked  in  your  eulogy,  one  of  the  finest  things 
in  the  book."  "  What  is  that  ?"  asked  Mr.  Lee.  "  It  is,"  said 
Mr.  Henry,  "  that  divine  exclamation  of  Sancho,  *  Blessed  be 
the  man  that  first  invented  sleep  :  it  covers  one  all  over,  like  a 
cloak'  "  Mr.  Lee  took  the  hint;  and  the  company  broke  up 
in  good  humour. 

His  quick  and  true  discernment  of  characters,  and  his  pre- 
of  political   events,  were  very  much  admired.     The 


284  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

following   examples  of   each,    have    been    furnished    by    Mr. 
Pope: — 

Mr.  Gallatin  came  to  Virginia  when  a  very  young  man:  he 
was  obscure  and  unknown,  and  spoke  the  English  language  so 
badly,  that  it  was  with  difficulty  he  could  be  understood.  He 
was  engaged  in  some  agency  which  made  it  necessary  to  pre 
sent  a  petition  to  the  assembly,  and  endeavoured  to  interest  the 
leading  members  in  its  fate,  by  attempting  to  explain,  out  of 
doors,  its  merits  and  justice.  But  they  could  not  understand 
him  well  enough  to  feel  any  interest  either  for  him  or  his  peti 
tion.  In  this  hopeless  condition  he  waited  on  Mr.  Henry,  and 
soon  felt  that  he  was  in  different  hands. 

Mr.  Henry,  on  his  part,  was  so  delighted  with  the  interview, 
that  he  spoke  of  Mr.  Gallatin  everywhere  in  raptures — "he 
declared  him,  without  hesitation  or  doubt,  to  be  the  most  sen 
sible  and  best  informed  man  he  had  ever  conversed  with — heis 
to  be  sure,"  said  he,  "  a  most  astonishing-  man  /"  The  reader 
well  knows  how  eminently  Mr.  Gallatin  has  since  fulfilled  this 
character;  and  considering  the  very  disadvantageous  circum 
stances  under  Avhich  he  was  seen  by  Mr.  Henry,  is  certainly 
a  striking  proof  of  the  superior  sagacity  of  the  observer. 

In  relation  to  his  political  foresight,  the  following  anecdote 
is  in  Mr.  Pope's  own  words: — "In  the  year  1798,  after  Bona 
parte  had  annihilated  live  Austrian  armies,  and,  flushed  with 
victory,  was  carrying  away  everything  before  him,  I  heard  Mr. 
Henry  in  a  public  company  observe,  (shaking  his  head  after  his 
impressive  manner) — *  It  won't  all  do  !  the  present  generation 
in  France  is  so  debased  by  a  long  despotism,  they  possess  so 
few  of  the  virtues  that  constitute  the  life  and  soul  of  republi 
canism,  that  they  are  incapable  of  forming  a  correct  and  just 
estimate  of  rational  liberty. 

*4  Their  revolution  will  terminate  differently  from  what  you 
expect — their  state  of  anarchy  will  be  succeeded  by  despotism  ; 
and  I  should  not  be  surprised,  if  the  very  man  at  whose  victo 
ries  you  now  rejoice,  should,  Cesar-like,  subvert  the  liberties 
of  his  country.  All  who  know  me,1  continued  Mr.  Henry, 
'know  that  I  am  a  firm  advocate  for  liberty  and  republicanism  ; 
I  believe  I  have  given  some  evidences  of  this.  I  wish  it  may 
not  be  so,  but  I  am  afraid  the  event  will  justify  this  prediction.'  " 

The  following  is  the  fullest  description  which  the  author  has 
been  able  to  procure  of  Mr.  Henry's  person.  He  was  nearly 
six  feet  high  ;  spare,  and  what  may  be  called  rawboned,  with  a 
slight  stoop  of  the  shoulders — his  complexion  was  dark,  sun 
burnt,  and  sallow,  without  any  appearance  of  blood  in  his 
cheeks — his  countenance  grave,  thoughtful,  penetrating,  and 
strongly  marked  with  the  lineaments  of  deep  reflection — the 


PATRICK    HENRY.  285 

earnestness  of  his  manner,  united  with  an  habitual  contraction  or 
knitting  of  his  brows,  and  those  lines  of  thought  with  which 
his  face  was  profusely  furrowed,  gave  to  his  countenance,  at 
some  times,  the  appearance  of  severity — yet  such  was  the 
power  which  he  had  over  its  expression,  that  he  could  shake 
off  from  it  in  an  instant,  all  the  sternness  of  winter,  and  robe  it 
in  the  brightest  smiles  of  spring. 

His  forehead  was  high  and  straight ;  yet  forming  a  sufficient 
angle  with  the  lower  part  of  his  face — his  nose  somewhat  of  the 
Roman  stamp,  though  like  that  which  we  see  in  the  bust  of  Cicero, 
it  was  rather  long,  than  remarkable  for  its  Cesarean  form.  Of 
the  colour  of  his  eyes,  the  accounts  are  almost  as  various  as 
those  which  we  have  of  the  colour  of  the  chameleon — they  are 
said  to  have  been  blue,  gray,  what  Lavater  calls  green,  hazel, 
brown,  and  black — the  fact  seems  to  have  been  that  they  were  of 
a  bluish-gray,  not  large  ;  and  being  deeply  fixed  in  his  head, 
overhung  by  dark,  long,  and  full  eyebrows,  and  farther  shaded 
by  lashes  that  were  both  long  and  black,  their  apparent  colour 
was  as  variable  as  the  lights  in  which  they  were  seen — but  all 
concur  in  saying  that  they  were,  unquestionably,  the  finest  fea 
ture  in  his  face — brilliant — full  of  spirit,  and  capable  of  the  most 
rapidly-shifting  and  powerful  expression — at  one  time  piercing 
and  terrible  as  those  of  Mars,  and  then  again  soft  and  tender 
as  those  of  Pity  herself — his  cheeks  were  hollow — his  chin 
long,  but  well  formed,  and  rounded  at  the  end,  so  as  to  form  a 
proper  counterpart  to  the  upper  part  of  his  face. 

"I  find  it  difficult,"  says  the  correspondent  from  whom  I 
have  borrowed  this  portrait,  "  to  describe  his  mouth  ;  in  which 
there  was  nothing  remarkable,  except  when  about  to  express  a 
modest  dissent  from  some  opinion  on  which  he  was  comment 
ing — he  then  had  a  sort  of  half-smile,  in  which  the  want  of 
conviction  was  perhaps  more  strongly  expressed,  than  the  sa 
tirical  emotion,  which  probably  prompted  it.  His  manner  and 
address  to  the  court  and  jury  might  be  deemed  the  excess  of 
humility,  diffidence,  and  modesty. 

"  If,  as  rarely  happened,  he  had  occasion  to  answer  any  re 
mark  from  the  bench,  it  was  impossible  for  Meekness  herself 
to  assume  a  manner  less  presumptuous — but  in  the  smile  of 
which  I  have  been  speaking,  you  might  anticipate  the  want  of 
conviction,  expressed  in  his  answer,  at  the  moment  that  he 
submitted  to  the  superior  wisdom  of  the  court,  with  a  grace  that 
would  have  done  honour  to  Westminster  hall.  In  his  reply  to 
counsel,  his  remarks  on  the  evidence,  and  on  the  conduct  of  the 
parties,  he  preserved  the  same  distinguished  deference  and  po 
liteness,  still  accompanied,  however,  by  the  never-failing-  in? 
fax  of  this  skeptical  smile,  where  the  occasion  prompted." 


286  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

In  short,  his  features  were  manly,  bold,  and  well-proportioned, 
full  of  intelligence,  and  adapting  themselves  intuitively  to  every 
sentiment  of  his  mind,  and  every  feeling  of  his  heart.  His 
voice  was  not  remarkable  for  its  sweetness  ;  but  it  was  firm,  of 
full  volume,  and  rather  melodions  than  otherwise.  Its  charms 
consisted  in  the  mellowness  and  fulness  of  its  note,  the  ease  and 
variety  of  its  inflections,  the  distinctness  of  its  articulation,  the 
fine  effect  of  its  emphasis,  the  felicity  with  which  it  attuned 
itself  to  every  emotion,  and  the  vast  compass  which  enabled  it 
to  range  through  the  whole  empire  of  human  passion,  from  the 
deep  and  tragic  half  whisper  of  horror,  to  the  wildest  excla 
mation  of  overwhelming  rage. 

In  mild  persuasion,  it  was  as  soft  and  gentle  as  the  zephyr 
of  spring;  while  in  rousing  his  countrymen  to  arms,  the  win 
ter  storm  that  roars  along  the  troubled  Baltic,  was  not  more 
awfully  sublime.  It  was  at  all  times  perfectly  under  his  com 
mand  ;  or  rather,  indeed,  it  seemed  to  command  itself  and  to 
modulate  its  notes,  most  happily  to  the  sentiment  he  was  utter 
ing.  It  never  exceeded,  or  fell  short  of  the  occasion.  There 
was  none  of  that  long-continued  and  deafening  vociferation, 
which  always  takes  place,  when  an  ardent  speaker  has  lost 
possession  of  himself — no  monotonous  clangour,  no  discord 
ant  shriek. 

Without  being  strained,  it  had  that  body  and  enunciation 
which  filled  the  most  distant  ear,  without  distressing  those 
which  were  nearest  him:  hence  it  never  became  cracked  or 
hoarse,  even  in  his  longest  speeches,  but  retained  to  the  last 
ah  its  clearness  and  fulness  of  intonation,  all  the  delicacy  of 
its  inflection,  all  the  charms  of  its  emphasis,  arid  enchanting- 
variety  of  its  cadence. 

His  delivery  was  perfectly  natural  and  well  timed.  It  has 
indeed  been  said,  that,  on  his  first  rising,  there  was  a  species 
of  sub-cantus  very  observable  by  a  stranger,  and  rather  disa 
greeable  to  him;  but  that  in  a  very  few  moments  even  this  it 
self  became  agreeable,  and  seemed,  indeed,  indispensable  to  the 
full  effect  of  his  peculiar  diction  and  conceptions.  In  point  of 
time,  he  was  very  happy  :  there  was  no  slow  and  heavy  drag 
ging,  no  quaint  and  measured  drawling,  with  equidistant  pace, 
no  stumbling  and  floundering  among  the  fractured  members  of 
deranged  and  broken  periods,  no  undignified  hurry  and  trepida 
tion,  no  recalling  and  recasting  of  sentences  as  he  went  along, 
no  retraction  of  one  word  and  substitution  of  another  not  bet 
ter,  and  none  of  those  affected  bursts  of  almost  inarticulate 
impetuosity,  which  betray  the  rhetorician  rather  than  display 
the  orator. 

On  the  contrary,  ever  self-collected,  deliberate  and  dignified, 


PATRICK    HENRY.  287 

he  seemed  to  have  looked  through  the  whole  period  before  he 
commenced  its  delivery  ;  and  hence  his  delivery  was  smooth, 
and  firm,  arid  well  accented ;  slow  enough  to  take  along  with 
him  the  dullest  hearer,  and  yet  so  commanding,  that  the  quick 
had  neither  the  power  nor  the  disposition  to  get  the  start  of 
him.  Thus  he  gave  to  every  thought  its  full  arid  appropriate 
force ;  and  to  every  image  all  its  radiance  and  beauty. 

No  speaker  ever  understood  better  than  Mr.  Henry  the  true 
use  and  power  of  the  pause  :  and  no  one  ever  practised  it  with 
happier  effect.  His  pauses  were  never  resorted  to  for  the  pur 
pose  of  investing  an  insignificant  thought  with  false  import 
ance;  much  less  were  they  ever  resorted  to  as  &  finesse  to  gain 
time  for  thinking.  The  hearer  was  never  disposed  to  ask, 
"  why  that  pause?"  nor  to  measure  its  duration  by  a  reference 
to  his  watch.  On  the  contrary,  it  always  came  at  the  very 
moment,  when  he  would  himself  have  wished  it,  in  order  to 
weigh  the  striking  and  important  thought  which  had  just  been 
uttered  ;  and  the  interval  was  always  filled  by  the  speaker  with 
a  matchless  energy  of  look,  which  drove  the  thought  home 
through  the  mind  and  through  the  heart. 

His  gesture,  and  this  varying  play  of  his  features  and  voice, 
were  so  excellent,  so  exquisite  that  many  have  referred  his 
power  as  an  orator  principally  to  that  cause ;  yet  this  was  all 
his  own,  and  his  gesture,  particularly,  of  so  peculiar  a  cast, 
that  it  is  said  it  would  have  become  no  other  man.  I  do  not 
learn  that  it  was  very  abundant ;  for  there  was  no  trash  about  it; 
none  of  those  false  motions  to  which  undisciplined  speakers  are 
so  generally  addicted;  no  chopping  nor  sawing  of  the  air;  no 
thumping  of  the  bar  to  express  an  earnestness,  which  was 
much  more  powerfully,  as  well  as  more  elegantly  expressed  by 
his  eye  and  countenance.  Whenever  he  moved  his  arm,  or 
his  hand,  or  even  his  finger,  or  changed  the  position  of  his 
body,  it  was  always  to  some  purpose  ;  nothing  was  inefficient ; 
everything  told  ;  every  gesture,  every  attitude,  every  look  wa  ; 
emphatic ;  all  was  animation,  energy,  and  dignity. 

Its  great  advantage  consisted  in  this — that  irarious,  bold,  anil 
original  as  it  was,  it  never  appeared  to  be  studied,  affected,  0'- 
theatrical,  or  "to  overstep,"  in  the  smallest  degree,  "the  mod 
esty  of  nature;"  for  he  never  made  a  gesture,  or  assumed  ai; 
attitude, which  did  not  seem  imperiously  demanded  by  the  occa 
sion.     Every  look,  every  motion,  every  pause,  every  start  wa- 
completely  filled  and  dilated  by  the  thought  which  he  was  ut 
tering,  and  seemed  indeed  to  form  a  part  of  the  thought  itseK 
His  action,  however  strong,  was  never  vehement.     He   we 
never  seen  rushing   forward,  shoulder  foremost,  fury  in   hi* 
countenance,  and  phrensy  in  his  voice,  as  if  to  overturn  the 


288  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

bar,  and  charge  his  audience  sword  in  hand.  His  judgment 
was  too  manly  and  too  solid,  and  his  taste  too  true,  to  permit 
him  to  indulge  in  any  such  extravagance. 

His  good  sense  and  his  self-possession  never  deserted  him, 
In  the  loudest  storm  of  declamation,  in  the  fiercest  blaze  o! 
passion,  there  was  a  dignity  and  temperance  which  gave  it 
seeming.  He  had  the  rare  faculty  of  imparting  to  his  hearers 
all  the  excess  of  his  own  feelings,  and  all  the  violence  and  tu 
mult  of  his  emotions,  all  the  dauntless  spirit  of  his  resolution, 
and  all  the  energy  of  his  soul,  without  any  sacrifice  of  his  own 
personal  dignity,  and  without  treating  his  hearers  otherwise 
than  as  rational  beings.  He  was  not  the  orator  of  a  day ;  and 
therefore  sought  not  to  build  his  fame  on  the  sandy  basis  of  a 
false  taste,  fostered,  if  not  created,  by  himself.  He  spoke  for 
Immortality ;  and  therefore  raised  the  pillars  of  his  glory  on 
the  only  solid  foundation — the  rock  of  Nature. 

So  much  has  been  already  said,  incidentally,  of  his  attain 
ments,  and  the  character  of  his  mind,  both  as  a  statesman  and 
an  orator,  that  little  remains  to  be  added  in  a  general  \f  ay.  As 
a  statesman,  the  quality  which  strikes  us  most  is  his  political 
intrepidity  :  and  yet  it  has  sometimes  been  objected  to  him,  that 
he  waited  on  every  occasion,  to  see  which  way  the  popular  cur 
rent  was  sitting,  when  he  would  artfully  throw  himself  into  it, 
and  seem  to  guide  its  course.  Nothing  can  be  more  incorrect: 
it  would  be  easy  to  multiply  proofs  to  refute  the  charge  ;  but  I 
shall  content  myself  with  a  few  which  are  of  general  notoriety. 

1.  The  American  revolution  is  universally  admitted  to  have 
begun  in  the  upper  circles  of  society.  It  turned  on  principles 
too  remote  and  abtruse  for  vulgar  apprehension  or  considera 
tion.  Had  it  depended  on  the  unenlightened  mass  of  the  com 
munity,  no  doubt  can  be  entertained  at  this  day,  that  the  tax 
imposed  by  parliament  would  have  been  paid  without  a  ques 
tion.  Since,  then,  the  upper  circle  of  society  did  not  take  its 
impulse  from  the  people,  the  only  remaining  inquiry  is,  who 
gave  the  revolutionary  impulse  to  that  circle  itself?  It  was 
unquestionably  Patrick  Henry. 

This  is  affirmed  by  Mr.  Jefferson  ;  it  is  demonstrated  by  the 
resistance  given  to  Mr.  Henry's  measures,  by  those  who  were 
afterward  the  stanchest  friends  of  the  revolution  ;  it  is  farther 
proved,  by  the  sentiment  before  noticed,  with  which  Doctor 
Franklin  (who  was  then  considered  as  the  first  American  states 
man)  dismissed  Mr.  Ingersoll  on  his  departure  from  London  ; 
a  sentiment,  which  evinces  beyond  doubt,  that  Doctor  Franklin 
considered  resistance  to  the  British  power  to  be,  at  that  time, 
premature;  and  finally,  this  honour  is  assigned  to  Mr.  Henry, 
I  perceive,  by  a  late  interesting  historian  of  Massachusets,  the 


PATRICK    HENRY.  389 

only  state  which  has  ever  pretended  to  dispute  the  palm  with 
Virginia. 

The  historian  to  whom  I  allude,  is  Mrs.  Mercy  Warren,  who 
is  said  to  be  the  widow  of  the  celebrated  General  Warren, 
the  hero  of  Bunker's  Hill.  These  are  her  words: — "The 
house  of  burgesses  of  Virginia  were  the  first  who  formally  re 
solved  against  the  encroachments  of  power,  and  the  unwar 
rantable  designs  of  the  British  parliament.  The  novelty  of 
their  procedure,  and  the  boldness  of  spirit  that  marked  the 
resolutions  of  that  assembly,  at  once  astonished  and  discon 
certed  the  officers  of  the  crown,  and  the  supporters  of  the 
measures  of  administration.  These  resolutions  were  ush 
ered  into  the  house  on  the  thirtieth  of  May,  one  thousand 
seven  hundred  and  sixty-five,  by  Patrick  Henry,  Esq.,  a 
young  gentleman  of  the  law,  till  then  unknown  in  political  life. 
He  was  a  man  possessed  of  strong  powers,  much  professional 
knowledge,  and  of  such  abilities  as  qualified  him  for  the  exi 
gences  of  the  day.  Fearless  of  the  cry  of  treason,  echoed 
against  him  from  several  quarters,  he  justified  the  measure  and 
supported  the  resolves,  in  a  speech  that  did  honour  both  to  his 
understanding  and  his  patriotism,"  &c.  MRS.  WARREN'S  History 
of  the  American  Revolution,  vol.  i.,p.28. 

On  this  great  occasion,  then,  it  is  manifest,  that  he  did  not 
wait  for  the  popular  current ;  but  on  the  contrary,  that  it  was 
he  alone,  who,  by  his  single  power  moved  the  mighty  mass  of 
stagnant  waters,  and  changed  the  silent  lake  into  a  roaring  tor 
rent.  When  it  is  remembered  too,  that  he  was  then  young  and 
obscure,  and  of  course  without  personal  influence — that  this 
step  was  the  result  of  his  own  solitary  reflection,  and  that  he 
was  perfectly  aware  of  the  personal  danger  which  must  attend 
it — we  can  require  nothing  farther  to  satisfy  us,  that  he  was  a 
bold,  original,  independent  politician,  who  thought  for  himself, 
and  pursued  the  dictates  of  his  own  judgment,  wholly  regard- 
iess  of  personal  consequences. 

2.  Again,  in  the  spring  of  1775,  that  upper  circle,  which  still 
headed  the  revolution,  were  disposed  to  acquiesce  in  the  plun 
der  of  the  magazine,  and  exerted  their  utmost  efforts  to  allay 
the  ferment  which  it  had  excited.  They  had,  in  fact  succeeded ; 
and  the  people  were  everywhere  composed,  save  within  the  im 
mediate  sphere  of  Mr.  Henry's  influence.  The  reader  has  already 
seen,  that  it  was  he  who  on  that  occasion  excited  the  people,  not 
who  was  excited  by  them ;  that  he  put  them  into  motion,  and 
avowed  to  his  confidential  friends,  at  the  time,  the  motives  of 
policy  by  which  he  was  actuated;  that  he  placed  himself  at 
the  head  of  an  armed  band,  which  he  had  himself  convened  for 
the  purpose ;  and  in  spite  of  the  entreaties  and  supplications 

25 


M  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

of  the  patriots  at  WiJliamsburgh,  and  in  defiance  of  the  threats 
of  Dunmore  and  his  myrmidons,  pressed  firmly  and  intrepidly 
on,  until  the  object  of  his  expedition  was  completely  obtained. 

3.  So  also  in  the  state  convention,  the  same  year,  the  old 
patriotic  leaders  were  disposed  still  to  rely  on  the  efficacy  of 
petitions,  memorials,  and  remonstrances;  it  was  Mr.  Henry 
who  proposed,  and  in  spite  of  their  opposition  (which  was  of 
so  strenuous  and  serious  a  character,  that  one  of  them  in  ma 
king  it,  is  said  to  have  shed  tears  most  profusely)  carried  the 
bold  measure  of  arming  the  militia.     This  was  not  dictated  by 
the  people. 

The  fact  was,  that  at  that  day,  the  people  placed  themselves 
in  the  hands  of  their  more  enlightened  friends ;  they  never 
ventured  to  prescribe  either  the  time*  the  manner,  or  the  meas 
ure  of  resistance ;  arid  there  can  be  no  room  for  a  Candid  doubt 
that,  but  for  the  bold  spirit  and  overpowering  eloquence  of 
Patrick  Henry,  the  people  would  have  followed  the  pacific 
counsels  of  Mr.  Randolph,  Mr.  Nicholas,  Mr.  Pendleton,  Mr. 
Wythe,  and  other  men  of  acknowledged  talents  and  virtue. 

It  was  Mr.  Henry,  therefore,  who  Jed  both  the  people  and 
their  former  leaders.  The  latter,  indeed  came  on  so  reluc 
tantly  at  frst,  that  they  may  be  said  to  have  been  rather  drag 
ged  along  than  led ;  they  did  come,  however,  and  acquiring 
warmth  by  their  motion;  made  ample  amends  thereafter  foi 
their  early  hesitation. 

The  author  has  no  intention,  by  these  remarks,  to  impair  in 
the  smallest  degree,  the  well-earned  reputation  of  those  vete 
ran  statesmen.  They  had  commenced  the  opposition  to  the 
stamp  act,  and  the  other  obnoxious  acts  of  the  British  parlia 
ment,  before  Mr.  Henry  made  his  appearance  as  a  politician  ; 
they  had  commenced  it  too,  on  the  same  grounds,  and  would, 
probably,  at  some  later  period,  have  been  wrought  up  by  their 
own  principles  and  feelings,  to  a  forcible  resistance  to  those 
measures. 

But  the  statements  above  are  unquestionably  correct ;  they 
did  not  approve  of  the  immediate  application  of  force ;  Mr. 
Henry's  policy  was  condemned  by  them  as  rash  and  precipi 
tate.  The  author  is  in  possession  of  an  original  letter  from 
one  of  these  statements,  in  which  Mr.  Henry  is  expressly  and 
directly  accused  of  having  precipitated  the  revolution,  against 
the  judgment  of  the  older  and  cooler  patriots.  "  Events,  how 
ever,"  as  we  have  seen,  "  favoured  the  bolder  measures  of  Mr. 
Henry,"  and  proved  his  policy  to  be  the  best. 

4.  Abou    the  close  of  the  war,  again,  when  he  proposed  to 
permit  the  return  of  that  obnoxious  class  of  men  called  Brit 
ish    refugees  and  Scotch  torics,  did  he  follow  the  popular  cur- 


PATRICK    HENRY.  881 

rent?  So  far  from  it,  that  he  stemmed  the  current,  and  turner 
back  its  course,  by  the  power  of  his  resistance. 

5.  So  in  the  case  of  the  federal  constitution,  whither  did  the 
current  of  the  American  people  tend  ?  Most  certainly  to  its 
adoption,  yet  Mr.  Henry,  to  use  his  own  language,  "  with 
manly  firmness,  and  in  spite  of  an  erring  world,"  with  the  re 
vered  Washington  at  their  head,  opposed  its  adoption  with  all 
the  powers  of  his  eloquence. 

The  truth  seems  to  be,  that  this  charge  is  only  a  variation 
of  that  conveyed  by  the  opprobrious  epithets  of  demagogue 
and  factious  tribune,  which  we  have  seen  that  his  rival  long 
since  sought  to  fasten  upon  him ;  and  there  can  be  little  doubt, 
that  it  proceeded  from  the  writhings  and  contortions  of  the 
same  agonized  envy.  That  a  poor  young  man,  issuing  from 
his  native  woods,  unknown,  unfriended,  and  comparatively  un 
lettered,  should  have  been  able,  by  the  mere  force  of  unassist 
ed  nature,  to  break  to  pieces  the  strong  political  confederacy 
which  then  ruled  the  country,  to  annihilate  all  the  arts  and 
finesse  of  parliamentary  intrigue;  to  eclipse  by  his  sagacity, 
the  experience  of  age ;  and,  by  the  sole  strength  of  his  native 
genius,  to  throw  into  the  shade  all  the  hard-earned  attainments 
of  literature  and  science,  was  entirely  too  humiliating  to  be 
borne  in  silence. 

It  was  necessary,  therefore,  to  resort  to  some  solution  of 
this  phenomenon  which  should  at  once  reduce  the  honours  of 
this  plebeian  up-start,  and  sooth  the  wounded  feelings  of  those 
whose  pride  he  had  brought  down.  Hence  it  became  fashion 
able,  in  the  higher  circles,  to  speak  of  Mr.  Henry  as  a  design 
ing-  demagogue,  a  factious  tribune,  who  carried  his  points  riot 
by  fair  and  open  debate,  but  by  violent  and  inflammatory  ap 
peals  to  the  worst  passions  of  the  multitude ;  and  who  fre 
quently  gave  himself  the  air  of  leading  the  people,  when  in 
truth  he  was  merely  following  their  own  blind  lead. 

This  cant  has  had  its  day,  and  its  propagators.  Truth  has 
set  the  subject  to  right?.  Mr.  Henry  is  alleged,  by  those 
who  had  the  best  opportunities  of  knowing  him,  to  have  been 
not  inferior,  either  in  public  or  private  virtue,  to  any  patriot  of 
the  revolution :  and  he  was  confessedly  superior  to  them  all, 
in  that  combination  of  bold,  hardy,  adventurous,  splendid,  and 
solid  qualifications,  which  are  so  peculiarly  fitted  to  revolu 
tionary  times. 

"He  left,"  says  Judge  "Winston,  "  no  manuscripts."  This 
was  to  have  been  expected.  We  have  seen  that  he  could  not 
bear  the  labour  of  writing ;  nor,  indeed,  of  that  long-continued, 
coherent,  and  methodical  thinking,  without  which,  no  success 
ful  composition,  of  any  extent,  can  be  produced.  He  thought, 


292  WIRT'S  LIFE  OF 

indeed,  a  great  deal ;  but  his  thinking  was  too  desultory  and 
irregular  to  take  the  form  of  composition. 

His  mind  had  never  been  disciplined  to  wait  upon  his  pen — 
it  still  moved  on — and  its  prismatic  beauties  were  as  evanescent 
as  they  were  beautiful.  His  imagination  "bodied  forth  the 
forms  of  things"  much  more  rapidly  than  his  unpractised  pen 
could  "turn  them  to  shapes;"  and  it  is  not  improbable,  that 
his  own  observation  of  the  difference  between  the  vigour  with 
which  he  thought,  and  the  comparative  decrepitude  with 
which  he  wrote,  disgusted  him  with  his  first  attempts,  and  pre 
vented  their  repetition. 

Yet  this  habit  which  he  had  of  thinking  for  himself,  and 
looking  directly  at  every  subject,  with  the  natural  eyes  of  his 
understanding,  without  using  what  has  been  called  the  specta 
cles  of  books,  was  perhaps  of  advantage  to  him,  both  as  a 
statesman  and  an  orator  :  as  a  statesman,  it  possibly  exempted 
him  from  that  common  error  of  scientific  theorists,  of  for 
cing  resemblances  between  the  present  and  some  past  historical 
era,  and  accommodating  their  measures  to  this  imaginary 
identity;  by  his  mode  of  considering  subjects,  no  circumstance 
was  either  sunk  or  magnified,  or  distorted,  in  order  to  bend 
the  case  to  a  fanciful  hypothesis  ;  nor,  in  deciding  what  was 
proper  to  be  done  in  America,  did  he  look  to  see  what  had 
been  found  expedient  at  Athens  or  Rome. 

On  the  contrary,  knowing  well  the  people  with  whom  he 
had  to  deal,  of  what  they  were  capable,  and  what  was  neces 
sary  to  their  happiness,  how  much  they  could  bear,  and  how 
much  achieve,  and  looking  immediately  at  the  subject,  (what 
ever  it  might  be,)  with  that  piercing  vision,  that  solid  judgment 
and  ready  resource,  which  characterized  his  mind — he  seemed 
to  seize  in  every  case,  rather  "luckily  than  laboriously,"  the 
course  which  of  all  others  was  surest  of  success. 

In  short,  this  habit  made  him  an  original,  sound  and  practi 
cal  statesman,  instead  of  being  a  learned,  dreaming,  and  vision 
ary  theorist.  Not  that  Mr.  Henry  was  deficient  in  historical 
knowledge;  he  had  enough  of  it  for  all  the  useful  purposes  either 
of  analogy  or  illustration  ;  but  he  never  permitted  it  to  inter 
cept  his  proper  view  of  the  subject,  or  to  take  the  lead  in  sug 
gesting  what  was  fit  to  be  done.  This  he  chose  rather  to  de 
rive  from  the  nature  of  the  case  itself,  and  the  character  of  the 
people  among  whom  that  case  occurred. 

This  habit  of  relying  more  on  his  own  meditations  than  on 
books,  was,  also,  perhaps,  a  service  to  him  as  an  orator :  for 
by  this  course,  he  avoided  the  beaten  paths  and  roads  of 
thought;  and  instead  of  exhibiting  in  his  speeches  old  ideas 
newly  vamped  up,  and  ancient  beauties  tricked  off  in  mod- 


PATRICK    HENRY. 


ern  tinsel,  his  arguments,  sentiments,  and  figures,  had  all 
that  freshness  and  novelty  which  are  so  universally  captivating. 

In  what  did  his  peculiar  excellence  as  an  orator  consist?  in 
what  consisted  that  unrivalled  power  of  speaking,  which  all 
who  ever  heard  him  admit  him  to  have  possessed?  The 
reader  is  already  apprized,  that  the  author  of  these  sketches 
never  had  the  advantage  of  hearing  Mr.  Henry,  and  that  no 
entire  speech  of  his  was  ever  extant,  either  in  print  or  writing  : 
hence,  there  are  no  materials  for  minute  and  exact  analysis. 
This  inquiry,  however,  is  natural,  and  has  been  directed,  with 
out  success,  to  many  of  the  most  discriminating  of  Mr.  Hen 
ry's  admirers.  Their  answers  are  as  various  as  the  complex 
ion  of  their  own  characters  ;  each  preferring  that  property 
from  which  he  had  himself  derived  the  most  enjoyment. 
Some  ascribe  his  excellence  wholly  to  his  manner ;  others,  in 
great  part,  to  the  originality  and  soundness  of  his  matter. 
And  among  the  admirers,  in  both  classes,  there  are  not  two 
who  concur  in  assigning  the  pre-eminence  to  the  same  quality. 

Of  his  matter,  one  will  admire  the  plainness  and  strength 
of  his  reasoning;  another,  the  concentrated  spirit  of 'his  aphor 
isms;  a  third,  his  wit;  a  fourth,  his  pathos  ;  a  fifth,  the  intrin 
sic  beauty  of  his  imagination  :  so  in  regard  to  his  manner, 
one  will  place  his  excellence  in  his  articulation  and  emphasis; 
a  second,  in  the  magic  power  with  which  he  infused  the  tones 
of  his  voice  into  the  nerves  of  his  hearers,  and  riveted  their  at 
tention.  The  truth  therefore,  probably  is,  that  it  was  not  in  any 
singular  charm,  either  of  matter  or  manner,  that  we  are  to 
look  for  the  secret  of  his  power;  but  that  like  Pope's  defini 
tion  of  beauty,  it  WAS  "  the  joint  force  and  full  result  of  all." 

If,  however,  we  are  to  consider  as  really  and  entirely  his, 
those  speeches  which  hare  already  been  given  in  his  name  to 
the  public,  or  are  now  prepared  for  them,  there  can  be  no  diffi 
culty  in  deciding,  that  his  power  must  have  consisted  princi 
pally  in  his  delivery.  We  know  what  extraordinary  effects 
have  been  produced  by  the  mere  manner  of  an  orator,  without 
any  uncommon  weight  or  worth  of  matter. 

"  Friar  Narni,  a  capuchin,  was  so  remarkable  for  his  elo 
quence,  that  his  hearers,  after  a  sermon,  cried  out  mercy  in  the 
streets,  as  he  passed  home:  and  thirty  bishops,  starting  up 
under  a  discourse,  hurried  home  to  their  respective  diocesses : 
yet,  when  his  sermons  came  to  be  published,  they  were  thought 
to  be  unworthy  of  his  reputation ;  which  shows  how  much  de 
pends  on  action  ;  and  how  correct  the  saying  of  Demosthenes 
was  on  that  subject." — BAYLE.  Article  Narni. 

We  have  the  authority,  however,  of  those  who  heard  the 
identical  speeches  now  professed  to  be  given  as  his,  for  de- 


294 

claring,  that  they  are  an  extremely  imperfect  representation 
of  them  ;  arid  their  ability  to  correct  them  so  frequently  from 
memory,  establishes  the  fact,  that  it  was  not  the  charm  of  de 
livery  merely,  which  constituted  the  difference  between  the  re 
port  and  the  original.  t  ;i 

This  is  not  the  only  instance  in  which  a  great  orator  has 
been  injured,  by  imperfect  attempts  to  represent  him :  for 
(to  say  nothing  of  those  modern  proofs,  which  will  easily 
occur  to  the  reader)  we  are  told  that  the  great  Pericles 
himself  met  with  a  similar  fate.  "Some  harangues  of  Peri 
cles  were  still  extant  in  Quintilian's  time  ;  but  that  learned 
rhetorician,  finding  them  disproportioned  to  the  high  reputa 
tion  of  this  great  man,  approved  the  opinion  of  those  who 
looked  upon  them  as  a  supposititious  work.  An  indifferent 
harangue,  however,  being  recited  by  an  excellent  orator,  may 
charm  the  hearers.  Action  is  almost  all!"  Article  Pericles. 

Candour  and  justice,  however,  require  us  to  repeat,  that  Mr. 
Robertson's  reports  are  unquestionable,  in  point  of  good  faith  ; 
and  that  they  are  highly  valuable,  on  account  of  the  accuracy  and 
fidelity  with  which  they  are  believed  to  have  preserved  the 
substance  of  the  debates.  It  is  with  extreme  regret  that  the 
author  has  made  a  single  comment  to  their  disadvantage;  but 
justice  to  Mr.  Henry  has  made  it  indispensable. 

The  basis  of  Mr.  Henry's  intellectual  character  was  strong 
natural  sense.  His  knowledge  of  human  nature  was,  as  we 
have  seen,  consummate.  His  wisdom  was  that  of  observation, 
rather  than  of  reading.  His  fancy,  although  sufficiently  preg 
nant  to  furnish  supplies  for  the  occasion,  was  not  so  exuberant 
as  to  oppress  him  with  its  productions.  He  was  never  guilty 
of  the  fault,  with  which  Corinna  is  said  to  have  reproached  her 
rival  Pindar,  of  pouring  his  vase  of  flowers  all  at  once  upon 
the  ground ;  on  the  contrary,  their  beauty  and  their  excellence 
were  fully  observed,  from  their  rarity,  and  the  happiness  with 
which  they  were  distributed  through  his  speeches. 

His  feelings  were  strong,  yet  completely  under  his  command ; 
they  rose  up  to  the  occasion,  but  were  never  suffered  to  over* 
flow  it;  his  language  was  often  careless,  sometimes  incor 
rect  ;  yet  upon  the  whole  it  was  pure  and  perspicuous,  giv 
ing  out  his  thoughts  in  full  and  clear  proportion  ;  free  from  af 
fectation,  and  frequently  beautiful  ;  strong  without  effort,  ant. 
adapted  to  the  occasion  ;  nervous  in  argument,  burning  in  pas 
sion,  and  capable  of  matching  the  loftiest  flights  of  his  genius. 

It  may  perhaps  assist  the  reader's  conception  of  Mr.  Henry's 
peculiar  cast  of  eloquence,  to  state  the  points  in  which  he  dif 
fered  from  some  other  orators.  Those  which  distinguished 
him  from  Mr.  Lee  hare  been  already  exhibited.  Colonel  Innis's 


PATRICK    HENRY.  295- 

manner  was  also  very  different.  His  habitual  indolence  fol 
lowed  him  into  debate ;  he  generally  contented  himself  with  a 
single  view  of  his  subject;  but  that  was  given  with  irresistible 
power. 

His  eloquence  was  indeed  a  mighty  and  a  roaring  torrent;  it 
had  not,  however,  that  property  of  Horace's  stream,  labitur  et 
labetur,  in  omne  volubilis  <zvum — on  the  contrary,  it  com 
monly  ran  by  in  half  an  hour.  But  it  bore  a  striking  resem 
blance  to  the  eloquence  of  Lord  Chatham  ;  it  was  a  short  but 
bold  and  most  terrible  assault — a  vehement,  impetuous  and 
overwhelming  burst — a  magnificent  meteor,  which  shot  majes 
tically  across  the  heavens,  from  pole  to  pole,  and  straight  ex 
pired  in  a  glorious  blaze. 

Mr.  Henry,  on  the  contrary,  however  indolent  in  his  gene 
ral  life,  was  never  so  in  debate,  where  the  occasion  called  for 
exertion.  He  rose  against  the  pressure,  with  the  most  uncon 
querable  perseverance.  He  held  his  subject  up  in  every  light 
in  which  it  could  be  placed  ;  yet  always  with  so  much  power, 
and  so  much  beauty,  as  never  to  weary  his  audience,  but  on  the 
contrary  to  delight  them.  He  had  more  art  than  Colonel  Inni«  : 
he  appealed  to  every  motive  of  interest — urged  every  argu 
ment  ihat  could  convince — pressed  every  theme  of  persuasion — 
awakened  every  feeling,  and  roused  every  passion  to  his  aid. 
He  had  more  variety,  too,  in  his  manner ;  sometimes  he  was 
very  little  above  the  tone  of  conversation  ;  at  others  in  the 
highest  strain  of  epic  sublimity. 

His  course  was  of  longer  continuance — his  flights  better 
sustained,  and  more  diversified,  both  in  their  direction,  and 
velocity.  He  rose  like  the  thunder-bearer  of  Jove,  when  he 
mounts  on  strong  and  untiring  win*?,  to  sport  in  fearless  majesty 
over  the  troubled  deep — now  sweeping  in  immense  and  rapid 
circles — then  suddenly  arresting  his  grand  career,  and  hover 
ing  aloft  in  tremulous  and  terrible  suspense — at  one  instant, 
plunged  amid  the  foaming  waves — at  the  next,  reascending  on 
high,  to  play  undaunted  among  the  lightnings  of  heaven,  or  soar 
toward  the  sun. 

He  differed  too,  from  those  orators  of  Great  Britain,  with 
whom  we  have  become  acquainted  by  their  printed  speeches. 
He  had  not  the  close  method  and  hijjh  polish  of  those  of  Eng 
land ;  nor  the  exuberant  imagery  which  distinguishes  those  of 
Ireland.  On  the  contrary,  he  was  loose,  irregular,  desultory — 
sometimes  rough  and  abrupt — careless  in  connecting  the  parts 
of  his  discourse,  but  grasping:  whatever  he  touched  with  gigan 
tic  strength.  In  short,  he  was  the  ORATOR  OF  NATURE  ;  and 
such  a  one  as  Nature  miaht  not  blush  to  avow. 

If  the  reader  shall  still  demand  how  he  acquired  those  won* 


296  PATRICK    HENRY. 

derful  powers  of  speaking  which  have  been  assigned  to  him, 
we  can  only  answer,  vvith  Gray,  that  they  were  the  gift  of 
Heaven — the  birthright  of  genius. 

"  Thine  too,  these  keys,  immortal  boy  ! 
This  can  unlock  the  gates  of  joy  ; 
Of  horror,  that,  and  thrilling  fears, 
Or  ope  the  sacred  source  of  sympathetic  tears." 

It  has  been  said  of  Mr.  Henry,  by  Mr.  John  Randolph,  of 
Roanoke,  with  inimitable  felicity,  that  "he  was  SHAKSPEARE 
and  GARRICK  COMBINED  !"  Let  the  reader  then  imagine  the 
wonderful  talents  of  those  two  men  united  in  the  same  indi 
vidual,  and  transferred  from  scenes  of  fiction  to  the  business 
of  real  life,  and  he  will  have  formed  some  conception  of  the 
eloquence  of  Patrick  Henry.  In  a  word,  he  was  one  of  those 
perfect  prodigies  of  Nature,  of  whom  very  few  have  been  pro 
duced  since  the  foundations  of  the  earth  were  laid  ;  and  of 
(dm  may  it  be  said,  as  truly  as  of  any  one  that  ever  existed : — 

"  He  was  a  man,  take  him  for  all  in  all, 
We  ne'er  shall  look  upon  his  like  again.'1'1 


APPENDIX. 


NOTE  A. 

IT  appears  by  the  journals  of  the  house  of  burgesses,  of  the  14th  November, 
seventeen  hundred  and  sixty-four,  (page  38,)  that  a  committee  was  appointed 
to  draw  up  the  following  address,  memorial,  and  remonstrance  ;  which  com 
mittee  was  composed  of  the  following  persons,  to  wit :  Mr.  Attorney,  (Peyton 
Randolph,)  Mr.  Richard  Henry  Lee,  Mr.  Landon  Carter,  Mr.  Wythe,  Mr. 
Edmund  Pendleton,  Mr.  Benjamin  Harrison,  Mr.  Gary,  and  Mr.  Fleming,  to 
whom,  afterward,  Mr.  Bland  was  added.  The  address  to  the  king  is  from  the 
pen  of  the  attorney.* 

"  To  the  king's  most  excellent  Majesty. 
"  Most  Gracious  Sovereign, 

"  We,  your  majesty's  dutiful  and  loyal  subjects,  the  council  and  burgesses 
of  your  ancient  colony  and  dominion  of  Virginia,  now  met  in  general  assembly, 
beg  leave  to  assure  your  majesty  of  our  firm  and  inviolable  attachment  to  your 
sacred  person  and  government ;  and  as  your  faithful  subjects  here  have  at  all 
times  been  zealous  to  demonstrate  this  truth,  by  a  ready  compliance  with  the 
royal  requisitions  during  the  late  war,  by  which  a  heavy  and  oppressive  debt 
of  near  half  a  million  had  been  incurred,  so  at  this  time  they  implore  permis 
sion  to  approach  the  throne  with  humble  confidence,  and  to  entreat  that  your 
majesty  will  be  graciously  pleased  to  protect  our  people  of  this  colony  in  the 
enjoyment  of  their  ancient  and  inestimable  right  of  being  governed  by  such 
laws,  respecting  their  internal  polity  and  taxation,  as  are  derived  from  their 
own  consent,  with  the  approbation  of  their  sovereign  or  his  substitute  :  a  right 
which,  as  men,  and  descendants  of  Britons,  they  have  ever  quietly  possessed, 
since,  first  by  royal  permission  and  encouragement,  they  left  the  mother  king 
dom  to  extend  its  commerce  and  dominion. 

"  You*  majesty's  dutiful  subjects  of  Virginia  most  humbly  and  unanimously 
hope,  that  this  invaluable  birthright,  descended  to  them  from  their  ancestors, 
and  in  which  they  have  been  protected  by  your  royal  predecessors,  will  not  be 
suffered  to  receive  an  injury  under  the  reign  of  your  sacred  majesty,  already 
so  illustriously  distinguished  by  your  gracious  attention  to  the  liberties  of  the 
people. 

"  That  your  majesty  may  long  live  to  make  nations  happy,  is  the  ardent 
prayer  of  your  faithful  subjects,  the  council  and  burgesses  of  Virginia." 

The  author  cannot  learn  who  drew  the  following  memorial ;  but  from  tne 
style  of  the  composition,  compared  with  the  members  of  the  committee,  and 
the  distribution  of  its  other  labours,  he  thinks  it  probable  that  it  was  Mr.  Pen- 
tfleton ;  possibly  Mr.  J31and. 

•  Oa  the  authority  of  Mr.  Jefferson. 
.  i 


298  APPENDIX, 


"  To  the  Right  Honourable  the  Lords  Spiritual  and  Temporal,  in  Parliament 
assembled ; — 

"  The  Memorial  of  the  Council  and  Burgesses  of  Virginia,  now  met  in  General 

Assembly, 
*'  HUMBLY  REPRESENTS, 

"  That  your  memorialists  hope  an  application  to  your  lordships,  the  fixed, 
and  hereditary  guardians  of  British  liberty,  will  not  be  thought  improper  at  this 
time,  when  measures  are  proposed,  subversive,  as  they  conceive,  of  that  free 
dom,  which  all  men,  especially  those  who  derive  their  constitution  from  Britain, 
have  a  right  to  enjoy ;  and  they  flatter  themselves  that  your  lordships  will  not 
took  upon  them  as  objects  so  unworthy  your  attention,  as  to  regard  any  impro- 
criety  in  the  form  or  manner  of  their  application,  for  your  lordships'  protection, 
of  their  'ust  and  undoubted  rights  as  Britons. 

"  It  cannot  be  presumption  in  your  memorialists  to  call  themselves  by  this 
distinguished  name,  since  they  are  descended  from  Britons,  who  left  their 
native  country  to  extend  its  territory  and  dominion,  and  who,  happily  for 
Britain,  and  as  your  memorialists  once  thought,  for  themselves  too,  effected 
this  purpose.  As  our  ancestors  brought  with  them  every  right  and  privilege 
they  could  with  justice  claim  in  their  mother  kingdom,  their  descendants  may 
conclude,  they  cannot  be  deprived  of  those  rights  without  injustice. 

"  Your  memorialists  conceive  it  to  be  a  fundamental  principle  of  the  British 
constitution,  without  which  freedom  can  nowhere  exist,  that  the  people  are 
not  subject  to  any  taxes  but  such  as  are  laid  on  them  by  their  own  consent  or 
by  those  who  are  legally  appointed  to  represent  them  :  property  must  become 
too  precarious  for  the  genius  of  a  free  people  which  can  be  taken  from  them 
at  the  will  of  others,  who  cannot  know  what  taxes  such  people  can  bear,  or 
the  easiest  mode  of  raising  them  ;  and  who  are  not  under  that  restraint,  which 
is  the  greatest  security  against  a  burdensome  taxation,  when  the  representa 
tives  themselves  must  be  affected  by  every  tax  imposed  on  the  people. 

"Your  memorialists  are  therefore  led  into  an  humble  confidence,  that  your 
.lordships  will  not  think  any  reason  sufficient  to  support  such  a  power,  in  the 
British  parliament,  where  the  colonies  cannot  be  represented  :  a  power  never 
before  constitutionally  assumed,  and  which,  if  they  have  a  right  to  exercise  on- 
any  occasion,  must  necessarily  establish  this  melancholy  truth,  that  the  inhab 
itants  of  the  colonies  are  the  slaves  of  Britons  from  whom  they  are  descended  : 
and  from  whom  they  might  expect  every  indulgence  that  the  obligations  of 
interest  and  affection  can  entitle  them  to. 

"Your  memorialists  have  been  invested  with  the  right  of  taxing  their  own 
people  from  the  first  establishment  of  a  regular  government  in  the  colony,  and 
requisitions  have  been  constantly  made  to  them  by  their  sovereigns,  on  all 
occasions  when  the  assistance  of  the  colony  was  thought  necessary  to  preserve 
the  British  interest  in  America  ;  from  whence  they  must  cone  ude  they  cannot 
now  be  deprived  of  a  right  they  have  so  long  enjoyed,  and  which  they  have 
never  forfeited. 

'•  The  expenses  incurred  during  the  last  war,  in  compliance  with  the  demands 
on  this  colony  by  our  late  and  present  most  gracious  sovereigns,  have  involved 
us  in  a  debt  of  near  half  a  million,  a  debt  not  likely  to  decrease  under  the 
continued  expense  we  are  at,  in  providing  for  the  security  of  the  people  against 
the  incursions  of  our  savage  neighbours  ;  at  a  time  when  the  low  state  of  our 
staple  commodity,  the  total  want  of  specie,  and  the  late  restrictions  upon  the 
trade  of  the  colonies,  render  the  circumstances  of  the  people  extremely  distress 
ful  ;  and  which,  if  taxes  are  accumulated  upon  them  by  the  British  parliament, 
will  make  them  truly  deplorable. 


APPENDIX. 

M  Your  memorialists  cannot  suggest  to  themselves  any  reason  why  they 
should  not  still  be  trusted  with  the  property  01  their  people,  with  whose  abilities, 
and  the  least  burdensome  mode  of  taxing,  (with  great  deference  to  the  superior 
vvisdorn  of  parliament,)  they  must  be  best  acquainted. 

"  Your  memorialists  hope  they  shall  not  be  suspected  of  being  actuated,  on 
this  occasion,  by  any  principles  but  those  of  the  purest  loyalty  and  affection,  as 
they  always  endeavoured  by  their  conduct  to  demonstrate,  that  they  consider 
their  connexion  with  Great  Britain,  the  seat  of  liberty,  as  their  greatest  hap 
piness. 

"  The  duty  they  owe  to  themselves  and  their  posterity,  lays  your  memorial 
ists  under  the  necessity  of  endeavouring  to  establish  their  constitution  upon  its 
proper  foundation  ;  and  they  do  most  humbly  pray  your  lordships  to  take  this 
subject  into  your  consideration  with  the  attention  that  is  due  to  the  well-being 
of  the  colonies,  on  which  the  prosperity  of  Great  Britain  does,  in  a  great 
measure,  depend." 

Mr.  Wythe  was  the  author  of  the  following  remonstrance  "It  was  done 
with  so  much  freedom,  that,  as  he  told  me  himself,  his  colleagues  of  the  com 
mittee  shrunk  from  it  as  wearing  the  aspect  of  treason,  and  smoothed  its 
features  to  its  present  form."* 

"  To  the  Honourable  the  Knights,  Citizens,  and  Burgesses  of  Great  Britain,  in 
Parliament  assembled  : — 

"  The  Remonstrance  of  the  Council  and  Burgesses  of  Virginia. 

'•  It  appearing,  by  the  printed  votes  of  the  house  of  commons  of  Great 
Britain  in  parliament  assembled,  that  in  a  committee  of  the  whole  house  the 
seventeenth  day  of  March,  last,  it  was  resolved,  that  toward  defending,  pro 
tecting,  and  securing  the  British  colonies  and  plantations  in  America,  it  may 
be  proper  to  charge  certain  stamp  duties  in  the  said  colonies  and  plantations  ; 
and  it  being  apprehended  that'  the  same  subject,  which  was  then  declined,  may 
be  resumed  and  further  pursued  in  a  succeeding  session,  the  council  and  bur 
gesses  of  Virginia,  met  in  general  assembly,  judge  it  their  indispensable  duty, 
in  a  respectful  manner,  but  with  decent  firmness,  to  remonstrate  against  such 
a  measure  ;  that  at  least  a  cession  of  those  rights,  which  in  their  opinion  must 
be  infringed  by  that  procedure,  may  not  be  inferred  from  their  silence,  at  so 
important  a  crisis. 

"They  conceive  it  is  essential  to  British  liberty,  that  laws,  imposing  taxes 
on  the  people,  ought  not  to  be  made  without  the  consent  of  representatives 
chosen  by  themselves  ;  who,  at  the  same  time  that  they  are  acquainted  with 
the  circumstances  of  their  constituents,  sustain  a  portion  of  the  burden  laid  on 
them.  The  privileges,  inherent  in  the  persons  who  discovered  and  settled 
these  regions,  could  not  be  renounced  or  forfeited  by  their  removal  hither, 
not  as  vagabonds  or  fugitives,  but  licensed  and  encouraged  by  their  prince, 
and  animated  with  a  laudable  desire  of  enlarging  the  British  dominion,  and 
extending  its  commerce  :  on  the  contrary,  it  was  secured  to  them  and  their 
descendants,  with  all  other  rights  and  immunities  of  British  subjects,  by  a  royal 
charter,  which  hath  been  invariably  recognised  and  confirmed  by  his  majesty 
and  his  predecessors,  in  their  commissions  to  the  several  governors,  granting  a 
power,  and  prescribing  a  form  of  legislation  ;  according  to  which,  laws  for 
the  administration  of  justice,  and  for  the  welfare  and  good  governrr.ert  of  the 
colony,  have  been  hitherto  enacted  by  the  governor,  council,  and,  general 
assembly ;  and  to  them,  requisitions  and  applications  for  supplies  have  been 
directed  by  the  crown.  As  an  instance  of  the  opinion  which  former  sovereigns 
entertained  of  these  rights  and  privileges,  we  beg  leave  to  refer  to  three  acts 

*  Mr  Jefferson. 


300  APPENDIX. 

of  the  general  assembly,  passed  in  the  thirty-second  year  of  the  reign  of  King 
Charles  II.  (one  of  which  is  entitled  '  An  act  for  raising  a  public  revenue  for 
the  better  support  of  the  government  of  his  majesty' 's  colony  of  Virginia,'  impo 
sing  several  duties  for  that  purpose,)  which  being  thought  absolutely  necessary r 
were  prepared  in  England,  and  sent  over  by  their  then  governor,  the  lord 
Culpepptr,  to  be  passed  by  the  general  assembly,  with  a  full  power  to  give 
the  royal  assent  thereto  ;  and  which  were  accordingly  passed,  after  several 
amendments  were  made  to  them  here ;  thus  tender  was  his  majesty  of  the 
rights  of  his  American  subjects ;  and  the  remonstrants  do  not  discern  by  what 
distinction  they  can  be  deprived  of  that  sacred  birthright  and  most  valuable 
inheritance  by  their  fellow-subjects,  nor  with  what  propriety  they  can  be  taxed 
or  affected  in  their  estates,  by  the  parliament,  wherein  they  are  riot,  and  indeed 
cannot  constitutionally,  be  represented. 

"And  if  it  were  proper  for  the  parliament  to  impose  taxes  on  the  colonies  at 
all,  which  the  remonstrants  take  leave  to  think  would  be  inconsistent  with  the 
fundamental  principles  of  the  constitution,  the  exercise  of  that  power,  at  this 
time,  would  be  ruinous  to  Virginia,  who  exerted  he-rself  in  the  late  war,  it  is 
feared  beyond  her  strength,  insomuch  that  to  redeem  the  money  granted  for 
that  exigence,  her  people  are  taxed  for  several  years  to  come  ;  this,  with  the 
larger  expenses  incurred  for  defending  the  frontiers  against  the  restless  Indians, 
who  have  infested  her  as  much  since  the  peace  as  before,  is  so  grievous,  that 
an  increase  of  the  burthen  would  be  intolerable  ;  especially  as  the  people  are 
very  greatly  distressed  already  from  the  scarcity  of  circulating  cash  among 
them,  and  from  the  little  value  of  their  staple  at  the  British  markets. 

"And  it  is  presumed,  that  adding  to  that  load  which  the  colony  now  labours 
under,  will  not  be  more  oppressive  to  her  people  than  destructive  of  the  inter 
ests  of  Great  Britain :  for  the  plantation  trade,  confined  as  it  is  to  the  mother- 
country,  hath  been  a  principal  means  of  niultiplying  and  enriching  her  inhabit 
ants  ;  and,  if  not  too  much  discouraged,  may  prove  an  inexhaustible  source  of 
treasure  to  the  nation.  For  satisfaction  in  this  point,  let  the  present  state  ol 
the  British  fleets  and  trade  be  compared  with  what  they  were  before  the  set 
tlement  of  the  colonies ;  and  let  it  be  considered,  that  while  property  in  land 
may  be  acquired  on  very  easy  terms,  in  the  vast  uncultivated  territory  of 
North  America,  the  colonists  will  be  mostly,  if  not  wholly,  employed  in  agri 
culture  ;  whereby  the  exportation  of  their  commodities  to  Great  Britain,  and 
the  consumption  of  manufactures  supplied  from  thence,  will  be  daily  increas 
ing.  But  this  most  desirable  connexion  between  Great  Britain  and  her  colo 
nies,  supported  by  such  a  happy  intercourse  of  reciprocal  benefits  as  is 
continually  advancing  the  prosperity  of  both,  must  be  interrupted,  if  the  people 
of  the  latter,  reduced  to  extreme  poverty,  should  be  compelled  to  manufacture 
those  articles  they  have  been  hitherto  furnished  with  from  the  former. 

"  From  these  considerations,  it  is  hoped  that  the  honourable  house  of  com 
mons  will  not  prosecute  a  measure  which  those  who  may  suffer  under  it  cannot 
but  look  upon  as  fitter  for  exiles  driven  from  their  native  country,  after  igno- 
minkwsly  forfeiting  her  favours  and  protection,  than  for  the  posterity  of  Britons, 
who  have  at  all  times  been  forward  to  demonstrate  all  due  reverence  to  the 
mother-kingdom ;  and  are  so  instrumental  in  promoting  her  glory  arid  felicity  ; 
and  that  British  patriots  will  never  consent  to  the  exercise  of  any  anti-consti 
tutional  power  which,  even  in  this  remote  corner,  may  be  dangerous  in  its 
example  to  the  interior  parts  of  the  British  empire,  and  will  certainly  be 
detrimental  to  its  commerce." 


APPENDIX.  301 


NOTE    B. 

Council  Chamber,  October  17th,  1785. 

SIR — Since  the  hst  session  of  assembly,  I  have  received  sundry  acts,  reso 
lutions,  and  other  communications  from  congress,  which  I  transmit  to  the 
general  assembly,  marked  No.  1,  and  which  will  claim  the  attention  of  the 
legislature,  according  to  their  nature  and  importance,  respectively. 

Tho  execution  of  the  militia  law  hath  caused  much  embarrassment  to  the 
executive.  Compelled  to  name  all  the  field  officers  throughout  the  state,  and 
possessing  sufficient  information  as  to  the  fitness  of  individuals  for  these  offices 
in  a  few  counties  only,  they  were  constrained  to  search  out  proper  persons,  by 
such  means  as  accident  furnished,  and  by  letters  addressed  to  the  several 
counties.  In  some  instances,  the  gentleman  to  whom  they  were  addressed, 
refused  to  give  any  information.  In  many  others,  the  answers  came  too  late 
to  avail  ;  the  law  directing  the  commissions  to  issue  the  first  of  April.  In  this, 
situation,  the  business  has  been  conducted  :  and  from  a  partial  knowledge  of 
characters  in  some  counties,  and  a  total  ignorance  of  them  in  others,  I  am 
sensible  many  who  are  worthy  of  command  have  been  passed  by,  and  others 
less  fit  for  office  may  have  been  commissioned.  And  notwithstanding  a  close 
attention  has  been  given  to  this  business,  many  of  the  counties  have  not  yet 
been  officered,  for  want  of  the  recommendations  of  captains  and  subalterns. 

Finding  that  the  arms  and  ammunition  directed  to  be  purchased,  could  not 
be  procured  except  from  beyond  the  sea,  application  has  been  made  by  me  to 
Mr.  Jefferson  and  the  Marquis  de  la  Fayette,  requesting  their  assistance  to  Mr. 
Barclay,  (who  was  commissioned  to  m?.ke  the  purchase,)  in  accomplishing  this 
important  work ;  and  I  have  the  satisfaction  to  find,  that  the  affair  is  in  such  a 
train  as  to  promise  the  speedy  arrival  of  these  much-wanted  articles.  For 
more  full  information  respecting  this  transaction,  I  send  you  sundry  letters, 
(No.  2,)  by  one  of  which  you  will  see  that  our  noble  friend  the  marquis  offers 
us  his  services,  if  there  shall  be  occasion  for  them. 

I  transmit,  herewith,  a  letter  from  the  honourable  Mr.  Hardy,  covering  & 
memorial  to  congress  from  sundry  inhabitants  of  Washington  county,  praying 
the  establishment  of  an  independent  state,  to  be  bounded  as  is  therein  express 
ed.  The  proposed  limits  include  a  vast  extent  of  country  in  which  we  have 
numerous  and  very  respectable  settlements,  which,  in  their  growth,  will  form 
an  invaluable  barrier  between  this  country  and  those  who,  in  the  course  ot 
events,  may  occupy  the  vast  plains  westward  of  the  mountains,  some  of  whom 
may  have  views  incompatible  with  our  safety.  Already  the  militia  of  that 
part  of  the  state  is  among  the  most  respectable  we  have  :  and  by  these  means 
it  is,  that  the  neighbouring  Indians  are  awed  into  professions  of  friendship* 
But  a  circumstance  has  lately  happened,  which  renders  the  possession  of  that 
territory,  at  the  present  time,  indispensable  to  the  peace  and  safety  of  Virginia  : 
I  mean  the  assumption  of  sovereign  power  by  the  western  inhabitants  of  North 
Carolina.  If  these  people,  who,  without  consulting  their  own  safety  or  any 
other  authority  known  in  the  American  constitution,  have  assumed  govern 
ment,  and  while  unallied  to  us,  and  under  no  engagements  to  pursue  the  object* 
of  the  federal  government,  they  shall  be  strengthened  by  the  accession  of  so 
great  a  part  of  our  country,  consequences  fatal  to  our  repose  will  probably 
follow.  It  is  to  be  observed,  that  the  settlements  of  this  new  society  stretch 
on  to  great  extent  in  contact  with  ours  in  Washington  county,  and  thereby 
expose  our  citizens  to  the  contagion  of  that  example,  which  bids  fair  to  destroy 
the  peace  of  North  Carolina. 

In  this  state  of  things  it  is,  that  variety  of  informations  have  come  to  me, 
stating  that  several  persons,  but  especially  Col.  Arthur  Campble,  have  used 

26 


302  APPENDIX. 

their  utmost  endeavours,  and  with  some  success,  to  persuade  the  citizens  in 
that  quarter  to  break  off  from  this  commonwealth,  and  attach  themselves  to 
the  newly-assumed  government,  or  erect  one  distinct  from  it.  And  in  order  to 
effect  this  purpose,  the  equity  and  authority  of  the  laws  have  been  arraigned, 
the  collection  of  the  taxes  impeded,  and  our  national  character  impeached. 
But  as  I  send  you  the  several,  papers  I  have  received  on  that  subject,  I  need 
not  enlarge  further  than  remark  that  if  this  most  important  part  of  our  territory 
be  lopped  off,  we  lose  that  barrier  for  which  our  people  have  long  and  often 
fought,  that  nursery  of  soldiers  from  which  future  armies  may  be  levied,  and 
through  which  it  will  be  almost  impossible  for  our  enemies  to  penetrate  :  we 
shall  aggrandize  the  new  state,  whose  connexions,  views,  and  designs  we  know 
not ;  shall  cease  to  be  formidable  to  our  savage  neighbours,  or  respectable  ta 
our  western  settlements,  at  present  and  in  future. 

While  these  and  many  other  matters  were  contemplated  by  the  executive, 
it  is  natural  to  suppose,  the  attempt  for  separation  was  discouraged  by  every 
lawful  means ;  the  chief  of  which  was,  displacing  such  of  the  field  officers  of 
militia,  in  Washington  county,  as  were  active  partisans  for  separation,  in  order 
to  prevent  the  weight  of  office  being  cast  in  the  scale  against  this  state  :  to 
this  end  a  proclamation  was  issued,  declaring  the  militia  law  of  the  last,  session 
in  force  in  that  county,  and  appointments  of  officers  were  made  agreeable  to  it. 

I  hope  to  be  excused  for  expressing  a  wish,  that  the  assembly,  in  deliberating" 
on  this  affair,  will  prefer  lenient  measures  in  order  to  reclaim  our  erring  fellow- 
citizens.  Their  taxes  have  run  into  three  years'  arrear,  and,  thereby,  grown 
to  an  amount  beyond  the  ability  of  many  to  discharge,  while  the  system  of 
our  trade  has  been  such,  as  to  render  their  agriculture  unproductive  of  money  ; 
and  I  cannot  but  suppose,  that  if  even  the  warmest  supporters  of  separation 
had  seen  the  mischievous  consequences  of  it,  they  would  have  retracted  ;  and 
condemned  that  intemperance  in  their  own  proceedings,  which  opposition  in 
sentiments  is  too  apt  to  produce. 

A  letter  from  the  countess  of  Huntingdon,  and  another  from  Sir  James  Jayf 
expressing  her  intentions  to  attempt  the  civilization  of  the  Indians,  arc  also 
sent  you.  It  will  rest  with  the  assembly  to  decide  upon  the  means  for  execu 
ting  this  laudable  design,  that  reflects  so  much  honour  on  that  worthy  lady. 

By  a  resolution  of  the  last  assembly,  the  auditors  were  prevented  from  liqui 
dating  the  claims  of  the  officers  and  soldiers,  after  the  first  day  of  May  last. 
Although  the  wisdom  of  such  a  measure  must  be  admitted,  yet  several  cases 
have  come  to  my  knowledge  where  claims,  founded  upon  the  clearest  principles 
of  justice,  have  been  rejected  by  reason  of  that  restriction:  and  when  I  con 
sider  that  the  claimants  will  be  found  to  consist,  in  considerable  degree,  of 
widows,  orphans,  and  those  who  have  been  taken  prisoners,  I  am  persuaded 
the  assembly  will  think  that  a  rigorous  adherence  to  the  forement.uned  resolu 
tion  is  improper*  and  that  justice  wjll  be  done  to  the  claims  of  those  few, 
whose  poverty,  ignorance,  or  other  misfortunes,  pretented  earlier  applica 
tions. 

By  Mr.  Ross's  letter  No.  5,  the  assembly  will  observe  his  demand  against 
the  state,  and  that  it  can  be  properly  discussed  only  by  the  legislature.  Al 
though  the  post  at  Point  of  Fork  has  been  long  occupied,  I  cannot  discover 
the  least  trace  of  title  to  the  ground  vested  in  the  public,  or  any  previous 
stipulation  with  the  proprietor  for  the  temporary  possession  of  it.  While  the 
assembly  are  considering  of  a  proper  satisfaction  to  the  owner  for  the  time  past, 
I  trust  provision  will  be  made  to  secure  a  permanent  repository  for  the  public 
arms  and  military  stores,  at  that  or  some  other  place  most  proper  for  the 
purpose. 

The  honourable  William  Nelson  hath  resigned  his  office  as  a  member  of  tha 
council,  as  appears  by  his  letter,  No.  6. 

The  honourable  Henry  Tazewell,  esq.,  has  been  appointed  a  judge  of  the 


APPENDIX.  303 

general  court  in  the  room  of  the  honourable  B.  Danbridge,  esq.,  deceased,  until 
the  assembly  shall  signify  their  pleasure. 

The  honourable  George  Muter,  esq.,  has  been  appointed  a  judge  of  the 
general  court  in  Kentucky,  in  the  room  of  Cyrus  Griffin,  esq.,  who  resigned 
his  appointment. 

Thomas  Massie,  esq.,  having  resigned  his  appointment  for  opening  a  road 
on  the  northwestern  frontier,  Joseph  Neville,  esq.,  has  been  appointed  in  his 
room. 

The  report  of  the  commissioners  for  disposing  of  the  Gosport  lands,  No.  9, 
will  explain  to  the  assembly  their  transactions  in  that  business. 

Mr.  Rene  Rapicault,  of  New  Orleans,  exhibited  an  account  against  this 
commonwealth  for  a  considerable  sum  of  money  which  appears  to  be  due  to 
him.  But  as  it  will  be  found  by  reference  to  his  papers,  No.  10,  that  this 
debt,  however  just,  cannot  be  paid  from  any  fund  now  existing,  it  is  submitted 
to  the  legislature  to  make  such  provision  for  its  payment,  as  to  them  shall 
seem  proper. 

The  report  of  the  commissioners  for  extending  the  boundary  line  between 
Virginia  and  Pennsylvania,  No.  11,  will  explain  the  manner  in  which  tha.t 
business  has  been  executed. 

By  Mr.  Jefferson's  letters  it  appears,  that  the  original  sum  granted  to  pro 
cure  a  statue  of  General  Washington  will  be  deficient.  The  further  sum 
wanting,  together  with  the  reasons  for  increasing  the  expense  of  the  work, 
will  appear  by  Mr.  Jefferson's  correspondence,  No  12. 

The  crews  of  the  boats  Liberty  and  Patriot  were  ordered  to  be  enlisted  for 
twelve  months  from  August  last,  unless  sooner  discharged.  This  was  done  in 
order  that  the  assembly  might,  if  they  judged  proper,  determine  to  discontinue 
them,  or  if  they  are  retained,  make  suitable  provision  for  their  support  :  hith 
erto,  that  has  been  defrayed  out  of  the  contingent  fund.  But  the  great  variety 
of  expenses  charged  on  that  fund,  make  it  necessary,  in  future,  to  provide  some 
other  mode  of  support  for  them.  The  assembly  will,  no  doubt,  observe  in  the 
course  of  their  deliberations  on  the  subject  of  revenue,  that  it  is  necessary  for 
the  executive  to  commission  the  officers.  The  officer  commanding  one  of  these 
boats  has  detected  several  persons  attempting  to  evade  the  payment  of  duty, 
and  in  compliance  with  the  law,  as  he  supposes,  took  bonds  for  the  payments 
of  the  penalties  imposed  for  making  false  entries.  But  it  seems  there  are  great 
difficulties  in  recovering  judgment  on  these  bonds,  owing  to  ambiguity  in  the 
law  respecting  the  subject.  The  assembly  will  apply  such  remedy  for  this 
evil  as  they  think  proper. 

Application  hath  been  made  to  the  executive,  on  the  subject  of  paying  into 
the  continental  treasury,  warrants  for  interest  due  on  loan-office  certificates, 
and  other  liquidated  claims  against  the  continent.  And  although  there  can  be 
no  doubt  that  payments  made  by  the  treasurer  to  the  continental  receiver,  may 
include  the  proportion  of  warrants  specified  by  congress  in  their  acts  of  the 
twenty-eighth  of  April,  seventeen  hundred  and  eighty-four,  yet  the  receiver, 
when  possessed  of  the  cash,  although  it  was  unaccompanied  by  any  warrants, 
does  not  conceive  himself  justified  in  parting  with  any  money  in  exchange  for 
them.  So  that  until  the  assembly  shall  interpose,  by  making  these  warrants 
receivable  at  the  treasury,  our  citizens  will  suffer  great  injury,  and  be  deprived 
of  a  facility  enjoyed  by  the  citizens  of  the  other  states. 

The  sum  of  money  allowed  by  the  assembly  in  their  resolution  of  the  thir 
teenth  of  June,  seventeen  hundred  and  eighty-three,  for  compiling,  printing, 
and  binding  the  laws,  has  proved  inadequate  to  the  purpose  ;  five  hundred 
pounds  having  been  expended  in  the  printing,  and  two  hundred  and  fifty  en 
gaged  to  be  divided  among  the  gentlemen  who  made  the  compilation  ;  so  that 
nothing  is  left  to  pay  for  the  binding. 

I  cannot  forbear  informing  the  assembly,  that  many  county  courts  have  failed 


304  APPENDIX. 

to  recommend  sheriffs  in  the  months  of  June  and  July.  In  consequence  of  this, 
many  of  the  counties  will  be  without  sheriff's,  inasmuch  as  the  executive  think 
they  have  no  power  to  issue  commissions  in  such  cases.  As  this  evil  threatens 
so  many  parts  of  the  state  with  anarchy,  I  have  no  doubt  of  the  legislature 
remedying  it  with  all  possible  despatch. 

I  have  the  honour  to  be,  with  great  regard, 

Your  most  obedient,  humble  servant, 

P.  HENRY. 
The  Honourable  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Delegates. 


NOTE  C. 

Judge  Tucker,  in  his  edition  of  Blackstone,  having  fallen  into  Mr.  Ran 
dolph's  mistake,  in  regard  to  the  case  of  Josiah  Philips,  the  following  note  has 
been  furnished  to  the  author  by  the  gentleman  who  was  the  chairman  of  the 
committee: — 

"  The  case  of  Josiah  Philips,  I  find  strangely  represented  by  Judge  Tucker 
and  Mr.  Edmund  Randolph,  and  very  negligently  vindicated  by  Mr.  Henry. 
That  case  is  personally  known  to  me,  because  I  was  of  the  legislature  at  the 
time,  was  one  of  those  consulted  by  Mr.  Henry,  and  had  my  share  in  the  pas 
sage  of  the  bill.  I  never  before  saw  the  observation  of  those  gentlemen,  which 
you  quote  on  this  case,  and  will  now,  therefore,  briefly  make  some  strictures 
on  them. 

"  Judge  Tucker,  instead  of  a  definition,  of  the  functions  of  bills  of  attainder, 
has  given  a  just  diatribe  against  their  abuse.  The  occasion  and  proper  office 
of  a  bill  of  attainder  is  this ;  when  a  person  charged  with  a  crime  withdraws 
from  justice,  or  resists  it  by  force,  either  in  his  own  or  a  foreign  country,  no 
other  means  of  bringing  him  to  trial  or  punishment  being  practicable,  a  special 
act  is  passed  by  the  legislature,  adapted  to  the  particular  case  ;  this  prescribes* 
to  him  a  sufficient  term  to  appear  and  submit  to  a  trial  by  his  peers,  declares 
that  his  refusal  to  appear  shall  be  taken  as  a  confession  of  guilt,  as  in  the  ordi- 
Hary  case  of  an  offender  at  the  bar  refusing  to  plead,  and  pronounces  the  sen 
tence  which  would  have  been  rendered  on  his  confession  or  conviction  in  a 
court  of  law.  No  doubt  that  these  acts  of  attainder  have  been  abused  in  Eng 
land  as  instruments  of  vengeance  by  a  successful  over  a  defeated  party,  but 
what  institution  is  insusceptible  of  abuse,  in  wicked  hands  P 

"  Again,  the  judge  says,  '  the  court  refused  to  pass  sentence  of  execution 
pursuant  to  the  directions  of  the  act.'  The  court  could  not  refuse  this,  because 
it  was  never  proposed  to  them,  and  my  authority  for  this  assertion  shall  be  pre 
sently  given. 

"  For  the  perversion  of  a  fact  so  intimately  known  to  himself,  Mr.  Randolph 
can  be  excused  only  by  our  indulgence  fur  orators  who,  pressed  by  a  powerful 
adversary,  lose  sight,  in  the  ardour  of  conflict,  of  the  rigoious  accuracies  of 
fact,  and  permit  their  imagination  to  distort  and  colour  them  to  the  views  of  the 
moment.  He  was  attorney-general  at  the  time,  and  told  me  himself,  the  first 
time  I  saw  him  after  the  trial  of  Philips,  that  when  taken  and  delivered  up  to 
justice,  he  had  thought  it  best  to  make  no  use  of  the  act  of  attainder,  and  to 
take  no  measure  under  it;  and  that  he  had  indicted  him,  at  the  common  law, 
either  for  murder  or  robbery,  (I  forget  which,  and  whether  for  both,)  that  he 
was  tried  on  this  indictment  in  the  ordinary  way,  found  guilty  by  the  jury,  sen-r 
tenced  and  executed  under  the  common  law ;  a  course  which  every  one  ap 
proved,  because  the  first  object  of  the  act  of  attainder  was,  to  bring  him  to  a  fair 
trial.  Whether  Mr.  Randolph  was  right  in  this  information  to  me,  or,  when  in 
tb.e  debate  with  Mr.  Henry,  he  represents  this  atrocious  offender  as  sentqnced 
and  executed  under  the  act  of  attainder,  let  the  record  of  the  case  decide. 


APPENDIX.  305 

<c  *  Without  being  confronted  with  his  accusers  and  witnesses,  without  the 
privilege  of  casing  for  evidence  in  his  behalf,  he  was  sentenced  to  death,  and 
afterward  actually  executed.'  I  appeal  to  the  universe  to  produce  one  single 
instance  from  the  first  establishment  of  government  in  this  state  to  the  present 
day,  where,  in  a  trial  at  bar,  a  criminal  has  been  refused  confrontation  with  his 
accusers  and  witnesses,  or  denied  the  privilege  of  calling  for  evidence  in  his 
behalf.  Had  it  been  done  in  this  case,  I  would  have  asked  of  the  attorney- 
general,  why  he  proposed  or  permitted  it  .'  But,  without  having  seen  the  re 
cord,  I  will  venture,  on  the  character  of  our  courts,  to  deny  that  it  was  done. 
But  if  Mr.  Randolph  meant,  only,  that  Philips  had  not  these  advantages,  on  the 
passage  of  the  bill  of  attainder,  how  idle  to  charge  the  legislature  with  omitting 
to  confront  the  culprit  with  his  witnesses,  when  he  was  standing  out  in  arms, 
and  in  defiance  of  their  authority  ;  and  their  sentence  was  to  take  effect,  only 
on  his  own  refusal  to  come  in  and  be  confronted.  We  must  either,  therefore, 
consider  this  as  a  mere  hyperbolism  of  imagination,  in  the  heat  of  debate,  or, 
what  I  should  rather  believe,  a  defective  statement  by  the  reporter  of  Mr.  Ran 
dolph's  argument.  I  suspect  this  last  the  rather,  because  this  point  in  the 
charge  of  Mr.  Randolph  is  equally  omitted  in  the  defence  of  Mr.  Henry.  This 
gentleman  must  have  known  that  Philips  was  tried  and  executed  under  the 
common  law,  and  yet,  according  to  this  report,  he  rests  his  defence  on  a  justifica 
tion  of  the  attainder  only.  But  all  who  knew  Mr.  Henry,  know,  that  When  at 
tase  in  argument,  he  was  sometimes  careless,  not  giving  himself  the  trouble  of 
ransacking  either  his  memory  or  imagination  for  all  the  topics  of  his  subject,  or 
his  audience  that  of  hearing  them.  No  man  on  earth  knew  better  when  he  had 
said  enough  for  his  hearers. 

"Mr.  Randolph  charges  us  with  having  read  the  bill  three  times  in  the  same 
day.  I  do  not  remember  the  fact,  nor  whether  this  was  enforced  on  us  by  the 
urgency  of  the  ravages  of  Philips,  or  of  the  time  at  which  the  bill  was  intro 
duced.  I  have  some'idea  it  was  at  or  near  the  close  of  the  session.  The  jour 
nals,  which  I  have  not,  will  ascertain  this  fact." 

The  following  proceedings  against  Josiah  Philips  and  his  associates,  are 
extracted  from  the  records  of  the  general  court;  and  are  followed  by  the  notice 
of  the  execution  of  these  men,  from  the  public  prints  of  the  day  :  which,  it  is 
hoped,  will  put  a  final  end  to  this  mistake,  so  little  to  the  honour  of  our  revo 
lution. 

*'  VIRGINIA,  to  wit : — 

"  The  jurors  for  the  Commonwealth,  upon  their  oath  present:  That  Josiah 
Philips,  late  of  the  parish  of  Lynhaven,  in  the  county  of  Princess  Ann,  labourer, 
on  the  ninth  day  of  May,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  seven  hundred 
and  seventy-eight,  with  force  and  arms,  at  the  parish  aforesaid,  in  the  county 
aforesaid,  in  the  highway  of  the  commonwealth  there,  in  and  upon  one  James 
Hargrove,  in  the  peace  of  God  and  of  the  commonwealth,  then  and  there  being, 
feloniously  did  make  an  assault,  and  him,  the  said  James  Hargrove,  in  bodily 
fear  and  danger  of  his  life,  in  the  highway  aforesaid,  then  and  there  feloniously 
did  put,  and  twenty-eight  men's  felt  hats  of  the  value  of  twenty  shillings  each, 
and  five  pounds  of  twine  of  the  value  of  five  shillings  each  pound,  of  the  goods 
und  chattels  of  the  same  James  Hargrove,  from  the  person  and  against  the  will 
of  the  said  James  Hargrove,  in  the  highway  aforesaid,  then  and  there  feloniously 
and  violently  did  steal,  take  and  carry  away,  against  the  peace  and  dignity  of 
the  common  wealth. 

"  Witness.— James  Hargrove,  Benjamin  Griffin,  William  Lovett,  Polly  Daris, 
Horatio  Davis,  and  John  Matthias.  Sworn  in  court,  Oct.  20th,  1778. 

JOHN  MAY." 

The  above  eudictment  is  thus  endorsed  : — 

"  An  endictment  against  Josiah  Philips  for  robbery,"  (in  Mr.  Randolph'? 
bind- writing.)  "  A  true  bill.  Wm.  Holt,  foreman." 


306  APPENDIX. 

"VIRGINIA, 

"  In  the  General  Court,  20th  October,  1778. 

"Josiah  Philips,  late  of  the  parish  of  Lynhaven,  in  the  county  of  Princess 
Ann,  labourer,  who  stands  endicted  for  robbery,  was  led  to  the  bar  in  custody 
of  the  keeper  of  the  public  jail,  and  was  thereof  arraigned,  and  pleaded  not 
guilty  to  the  endictment,  and  for  his  trial  put  himself  upon  God  and  his  coun 
try.  Whereupon  came  a  jury,  to  wit:  James  Letate.  Thomas  Stanley,  Gillian) 
Booth,  Stap'eton  Crutchneld,  John  Tankei  ley,  John  Draper,  Leonard  Henley, 
Micajah  Chiles,  Richard  Swepson,  William  James  Lewis,  Thomas  Cowles, 
and  AuM>rose  Raines,  who,  being  elected,  tried  and  sworn  the  truth  of,  and 
upon  premises  to  speak,  and  having  heard  the  evidence,  upon  their  oath  to  say, 
that  the  said  Josiah  Philips  is  guilty  of  the  robbery  aforesaid  in  manner  and  form 
as  in  the  endictment  against  him  is  alleged,  and  that  he  had  neither  lands  nor 
tenements,  goods  nor  chattels  at  the  time  of  committing  the  said  robbery,  nor  at 
any  time  since,  to  their  knowledge;  and  thereupon  he  is  remanded  to  jail. 

"  October  the  27th,  1778. 

"  Josiah  Philips,  late  of  the  parish  of  Lynhaven,  in  the  county  of  Princess 
Ann,  labourer,  who  stands  convicted  of  robbery,  was  again  led  to  the  bar  in 
custody  of  the  keeper  of  the  public  jail,  and  thereupon  it  being  demanded  of 
him  if  any  thing  he  had  or  knew  to  say  for  himself,  why  the  court,  here,  to 
judgment  and  execution  of  and  upon  the  premises,  should  not  proceed,  he  said 
he  had  nothing  but  what  he  had  before  said.  Therefore,  it  is  considerec  by  the 
court,  that  he  be  hanged  by  the  neck  until  he  be  dead. 

"  October  28,  1778. 

•  "  John  Lowry,  John  Reizen,  and  Charles  Bowman,  for  murder,  Josiah  Philips, 
James  Hodges,  Henry  M'Lalen,  and  Robert  Hodges,  for  robbery,  James  Ran 
dolph  for  horse-stealing,  Joseph  Turner,  otherwise  called  Josiah  Blankenship, 
for  Burglary,  and  John  Highwarden,  for  grand  larceny,  being  under  sentence  of 
death  by  the  judgment  of  the  court  yesterday  passed  against  them  for  their  said 
offence  :  It  is  awarded  that  execution  of  the  said  sentence  be  severally  made 
and  done  upon  them  the  said  John  Lowry,  John  Reizen,  Charles  Bowman,  Jo 
siah  Philips,  James  Hodges,  Henry  M'Lalen,  Robert  Hodges,  James  Randolph, 
Joseph  Turner,  otherwise  called  Josiah  Blankenship,  aud  John  Highwarden,  by 
the  sheriff  of  York  county,  on  Friday  the  fourth  day  of  December  next,  be 
tween  the  hours  of  ten  and  twelve  in  the  forenoon,  at  the  usual  place  of  execu 
tion. 

"  Copies— Teste, 

"  PEYTON  DREW,  C.  G.  C." 

Extractfi'om  Dixon  and  Hunter's  paper  of  October  30th,  1778. 
"  WILLIAMSBURGH — At  a  general  court,  begun  and  held  at  the  capitol  the 
10th  instant,  the  following  criminals  were  condemned  to  sutler  death  :  Charks 
Bowman,  from  Prince  George,  for  murder  ;  John  Lowry,  from  Bedford,  for 
ditto  ;  Josiah  Philips,  James  Hodges,  Robert  Hodges,  aud  Henry  M'Lalen,  from 
Princess  Ann,  for  robbery  :  John  Highwarden,  from  Fauquier, for  grand  larceny  ; 
Joseph  Turner,  alias  Jusiah  Blankenship,  from  Atbemarle,  fur  burglary  ;  und 
James  Randolph,  from  Culpeper,  fur  horse-stealing." 

Extract  from  Dixon  and  Hunter's  paper  of  December  4,  1778. 
"  WILLIAMSBURGH — This  day  were  executed,  at  the  gallows  near  this  city, 
pursuant  to  their  sentence,  the  following  criminals,  viz. :  Josiah  Philips,  Henry 
M'Lalen,  Robert  Hodges,  John  Reizen  and  Josiah  Blankeuship." 


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